Robert Levinson: US man missing in Iran ‘was on CIA mission’

An American who vanished nearly seven years ago in Iran was working for the CIA on an unapproved intelligence-gathering mission that, when it came to light inside the government, produced one of the most serious scandals in the recent history of the CIA – but all in secret, it has emerged.

The CIA paid Robert Levinson’s family $2.5m to head off a revealing lawsuit. Three veteran analysts were forced out of the agency and seven others were disciplined. The US publicly has described Levinson as a private citizen.

“Robert Levinson went missing during a business trip to Kish Island, Iran,” the White House said last month.

That was just a cover story. In an extraordinary breach of the most basic CIA rules, a team of analysts – with no authority to run spy operations – paid Levinson to gather intelligence from some of the world’s darkest corners. He vanished while investigating the Iranian regime.

Details of the disappearance were described in documents obtained by the Associated Press, plus interviews over several years with dozens of current and former US and foreign officials close to the search for Levinson. Nearly all spoke on condition of anonymity.

There is no confirmation who captured Levinson or who may be holding him. Although US authorities have investigated possible involvement of drug traffickers or terrorists, most officials say they believe Iran either holds him or knows who does. The AP first confirmed Levinson’s CIA ties in 2010, but agreed three times to delay publishing the story because the US government said it was pursuing promising leads to get him home.

It is reporting the story now because, nearly seven years after his disappearance, those efforts have repeatedly come up empty. The government has not received any sign of life in nearly three years. Top US officials, meanwhile, say his captors almost certainly already know about his CIA association.

There has been no hint of Levinson’s whereabouts since his family received proof-of-life photos and a video in late 2010 and early 2011. That prompted a hopeful burst of diplomacy between the United States and Iran, but as time dragged on, leads dried up and the trail went cold.

Immediately after Levinson’s disappearance in March 2007, the CIA acknowledged to Congress that he had previously done contract work for the agency. But the agency had no current relationship with him and there was no connection to Iran, the CIA told lawmakers.

But in October 2007 Levinson’s lawyer discovered emails between Levinson and his friend Anne Jablonski, who worked at the CIA. Before his trip, Levinson told Jablonski he was developing a source with access to the Iranian regime and could arrange a meeting.

There’s no evidence that Jablonski ever responded. She says she has no recollection of ever receiving it, and had no idea he was going to Iran.

At home in Florida, Christine Levinson works to keep her husband’s name in the news. Last year, the FBI offered a reward of $1m for information leading to his return. But it hasn’t worked. “There isn’t any pressure on Iran to resolve this,” she said in January. “It’s been much too long.”

AP