Author

Topic: Clues Emerge on Robert Levinson, C.I.A. Consultant Who Vanished in Iran (Read 286 times)

xht
sr. member
Activity: 462
Merit: 250
hey you, yeah you, fuck you!!!
When the United States and Iran swapped prisoners last week, nothing was said to resolve the mystery about another captive: Robert A. Levinson, a Central Intelligence Agency consultant who disappeared in Iran in 2007.

Iranian leaders have long said that they knew nothing about the missing American, and United States officials have said that he may no longer be in Iran — or even still alive. Aside from a hostage video and photographs of him in an orange jumpsuit five years ago, there had been no public clues about his fate.

But newly disclosed documents suggest that Iranian officials knew far more about Mr. Levinson. In late 2011, a top Iranian diplomat acknowledged that his country was holding the American and would release him if the United States helped delay an assessment criticizing Iran’s nuclear activities, the documents say.

 Iran’s ambassador to France at the time, Seyed Mehdi Miraboutalebi, made the statement during a private gathering at his Paris residence with two men working with an American religious organization, according to a report about the session. The meeting resulted from a letter sent to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, by a leader of the religious group, the Fellowship Foundation, which had previously helped win the release of an Iranian-American imprisoned in Tehran.

“The Ambassador made it clear that they have Robert Levinson and that they are willing to release him without conditions,” said the report, which was sent to the F.B.I. in October 2011. “They do, however, want tangible, ‘symbolic’ assurances that the messages they are sending have been received at the highest levels.”

Iranian officials maintained that they did not know Mr. Levinson’s whereabouts or status during recent negotiations that resulted in the prisoner exchange last week. The Obama administration has never challenged Iran’s position, but law enforcement officials say they believe that factions tied to that country’s intelligence, political or religious leadership were involved in his capture and detention.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/world/middleeast/clues-emerge-on-robert-levinson-cia-consultant-who-vanished-in-iran.html?ref=world&_r=0
Jump to: