Visiting Iran, in whatever capacity, is always a huge risk considering how many Americans and citizens of other countries have been held hostage there.
You may recall the recent release of two American hikers from an Iranian prison in September. They were lucky, but former FBI Agent Robert Levinson has been missing after a visit to Iran for nearly five years now. The U.S. worked behind the scenes to secure the release of the hikers but officials said Levinson was not part of those discussions.
In the nearly five years that Levinson has been missing, the U.S. government has never had solid intelligence about what happened to him. Levinson had been retired from the FBI for years and was working as a private investigator when he traveled to Iran in March 2007. His family has said an investigation into cigarette smuggling brought him to Kish, a resort island where Americans need no visa to visit.
Long after he vanished in Iran, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson reappeared in a video and a series of photographs sent to his family over the past year, transforming a mysterious disappearance into a hostage standoff with an unknown kidnapper, The Associated Press has learned.
In the video emailed to his family in November 2010, Levinson pleaded with the U.S. government to meet the demands of his unidentified captors.
“I have been treated well. But I need the help of the United States government to answer the requests of the group that has held me for three and a half years,” Levinson says. “And please help me get home.”
The 54-second video showed Levinson looking haggard but unharmed, sitting in front of what appeared to be a concrete wall. He had lost considerable weight, particularly in his face, and his white shirt hung off him. There were no signs of recent mistreatment. But Levinson, who has a history of diabetes and high blood pressure, implored the U.S. to help him quickly.
“I am not in very good health,” he says. “I am running very quickly out of diabetes medicine.” Read the full article »
