Documents may be breakthrough in case of FBI veteran who vanished in Iran.
Documents obtained years ago by the family of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson, who has been missing in Iran for more than a decade, may provide the most convincing evidence yet that he was arrested and held by Iranian intelligence agents after a new statement from the country recently came to light.
News of the Iranian admission to the U.N. this month was followed by the Trump administration upping the reward for information leading to Levinson's recovery to $25 million -- the same amount offered in the past for information leading to the location of terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The first document, dated March 8, 2007, states that Levinson -- erroneously referred to as"Robert Anderson" -- had an FBI background,"may be CIA," and was alleged he was engaging in"spying activities." "A doctor examined him and he was diagnosed to have diabetes and noted that he is not in a good condition and ordered to transfer him to a hospital," Jalali continued."In regard to the sensitivity and importance of this matter and the accused, please give us the necessary orders that should be taken in this regard."
Washington Post columnist and former Iran hostage Jason Rezaian reported this month that in response to a Levinson family complaint three years ago to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the U.N. had noted that it had received a new message from Tehran in October.
President Trump jumped on the news and tweeted Nov. 10:"If Iran is able to turn over to the U.S. kidnapped former FBI Agent Robert A. Levinson, who has been missing in Iran for 12 years, it would be a very positive step. At the same time, upon information & belief, Iran is, & has been, enriching uranium. THAT WOULD BE A VERY BAD STEP!"
ABC News was only provided photos of the two purported Iranian documents, which therefore cannot be authenticated with absolute certainty, experts say. Archin, who was born and raised in Iran and speaks Farsi as a native language, also worked to fight terrorism finance at the U.S. Treasury Department, where she continued following developments on the Levinson abduction after leaving the Department of Defense shortly after he went missing in 2007.
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