Family Of Man Missing In Iran Speak Out After Prisoners’ Release

It’s unclear where he is; Iranian officials have said they don’t know but Levinson’s family does not believe them. Warren Weinstein, who was held by Al Qaeda in Pakistan was killed in an American airstrike last January; Jacob Ostreicher who was arrested in Bolivia for 18 months was released in December 2012; and Alan Gross, the government contractor imprisoned in Cuba for five years, was released just over a year ago.

“We had to learn it from the TV ourselves, and that’s very disappointing and heartbreaking”, said Robert Levinson’s wife, Christine.

She also spoke of the American government’s “betrayal” for not giving Levinson’s family advance warning of the prisoner exchange.

“I gave these families my word”, President Obama said on Sunday.

In March 2015, the FBI increased the reward for information leading directly to the location and return of Robert Levinson to $5 million, and we continue to investigate and follow up on all information we receive, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to include all those received confidentially on tips.fbi.gov and 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Levinson, 68 from Coral Springs, Florida, worked as a private investigator after retiring from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Levinson’s family has pushed the US government to bring him home but Iran officials have said they don’t know where Levinson is.

“Even as we rejoice in the safe return of others, we will never forget about Bob”, President Barack Obama said in a White House speech.

“I feel disgusting for the family”, Kerry told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Iran has never acknowledged detaining Levinson and some USA intelligence officials think he may be dead. A proof of life video surfaced in 2011, saying Levinson was held by a group.

The CIA conducted an internal inquiry into Levinson’s unauthorized relationship with the agency’s analytical division, resulting in three officials being fired and several more being disciplined, officials have said. “The Iranians can not deny that”, said former Ambassador John Limbert, who served as deputy assistant secretary of state for Iran, and in 1979 was one of the Americans taken hostage in the American embassy in Tehran.

Today, sanctions on Iran were lifted as part of that agreement. They learned about it by watching television. In the photos, he was wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, holding signs with messages including “Help me” and “I am in Guantanamo”.

Officials who were tracking Levinson’s whereabouts told the Post he met with Dawud Salahuddin, a fugitive who was wanted in the murder of an Iranian dissident who was murdered in his Maryland house.

But American officials caution they do not consider Salahuddin to be a credible source of information, because he has admitted to killing an Iranian diplomat who was loyal to the Shah in Maryland in 1980.

When asked if she ever considered whether her husband was alive or not, Levinson’s wife said that she would not give up hope.