Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Family of Robert Levinson, Captive Jewish FBI Agent, Meets With John Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday met with the family of a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007, and urged anyone who may have information about his whereabouts to come forward.

Robert Levinson

Robert Levinson, who retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1998, disappeared from Kish Island in Iran on a business trip in 2007. Levinson’s family refers to him as a hostage and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in 2011 there were indications he was being held in Southwest Asia.

“I met with Mr. Levinson’s wife and son today to reiterate that the U.S. government remains committed to locating Mr. Levinson and reuniting him safely with his family,” Kerry said in a statement.

“A husband and father to seven children, Mr. Levinson has missed birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other important milestones since his disappearance six years ago from Iran’s Kish Island. He is also the grandfather of two, the second of which was born in his absence.”

Kerry’s statement came the day before the sixth anniversary of Levinson’s disappearance. Last year, the FBI offered a rare $1 million reward for any information that could lead to his safe return. [ID nL2E8E65YZ]

Iran’s government previously said it has no information about Levinson’s whereabouts.

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney also said the United States “will continue to do all that we can to bring him home safely.”

He added that the Iranian government has previously offered assistance in locating Levinson.

“We look forward to receiving this assistance, even as we disagree on other key issues,” Carney added.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version