US Sanctions Iranian Officials For Alleged Role in Ex-FBI Agent’s Disappearance

 

Robert Levinson went missing in 2007 while on a CIA mission in Iran

Dave DeCamp 

Posted onDecember 14, 2020CategoriesNewsTagsIran

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on two Iranian intelligence officials for their alleged role in the 2007 disappearance of former FBI agent Robert Levinson. The sanctions targeted two members of Iran’s intelligence ministry.

“Today, the US Department of the Treasury designated two senior officials of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), who were involved in the abduction of Robert A. ‘Bob’ Levinson on Iran’s Kish Island on or about March 9, 2007,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

In 2013, The Associated Press revealed that Levinson was in Iran on an unauthorized intelligence-gathering mission for the CIA. According to the report, three of the CIA analysts who hired him had no authority to run spy operations and were fired over the mission.

The AP knew about Levinson’s CIA ties since 2010 but was asked by the US government to hold the story over fears of the report jeopardizing the investigation into his whereabouts. The US initially claimed Levinson was in Iran working as a private investigator.

The Iranian government has maintained that Levinson is not in its custody. In March, the US government and Levinson’s family concluded that the former FBI agent was likely dead.

The sanctions against Iran are part of the Trump administration’s efforts to ramp up the pressure on Tehran as much as possible before January 20th. Last month, US envoy for Iran Elliot Abrams said the administration plans to slap new sanctions on Iran every week until Biden’s inauguration.

https://news.antiwar.com/2020/12/14/us-sanctions-iranian-officials-for-alleged-role-in-ex-fbi-agents-disappearance/