Officials: Abducted Ex-FBI Agent Bob Levinson May No Longer Be In Iran
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent from New York who disappeared in Iran in 2007 is still missing, with some U.S. officials saying he may no longer be in the country as the search for his whereabouts continues.
Five prisoners were released from Iran over the weekend in a prisoner swap orchestrated as part of the Iran nuclear deal. Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini, and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari were flown from Iran and then transported to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for medical treatment, U.S. officials said.
The fifth detainee – a student identified as Matthew Trevithick – was released independently of the exchange on Saturday.
Levinson's wife, Christine, told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell that she believes no deal should have been made without her husband's inclusion.
"I think Bob should have been a priority, he has been there almost nine years now," she said.
On Monday, former CIA director Robert Gates said more should have been done to secure Levinson's release.
"One of the things I would have pressed for, and maybe they did, was definitive information about the FBI man – either proof of life or proof of death, or something to bring closure," Gates said.
A 2013 report from the Associated Press revealed that Levinson had ties to the CIA when he was working in Iran at the time of his abduction.
White House representative Josh Earnest said the administration is doing all it can.
"What we're looking for right now is information about his whereabouts and we're going to press the Iranians on that accordingly," Earnest said.
