Robert Levinson's Son Criticizes U.S. Government: My Father Has Been Taken Hostage

The son of Robert Levinson, a former employee of both the CIA and FBI in the United States, who is said to have gone missing in Iran, criticized the U.S. government for its indifference to his father's situation, calling him a 'hostage.' Dan Levinson, in a piece for the Monday, April 13 edition of the New York Post, strongly criticized the government and the U.S. State Department for not considering his father a 'hostage.' Mr. Levinson wrote: 'My father appeared in a video, pleading for help while his neck was in chains. What more evidence [do we need to prove he is a hostage]?' The son of this former FBI agent also urged the U.S. government to pressure Iran for his father's release. Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent and former contractor for the CIA, disappeared about a decade ago on Kish Island in Iran. Reports initially indicated that Mr. Levinson had gone to Iran for research on cigarette smuggling in the region. However, according to a report by the French news agency, the Washington Post recently suggested that Mr. Levinson was working for the CIA at the time of his disappearance and had traveled to Kish to meet with an 'informant' regarding Iran's nuclear program. In response, the Islamic Republic claims it has no information on what happened to this American agent, but the FBI announced in March 2016 that Tehran had agreed to cooperate with the U.S. regarding the Robert Levinson case. However, Mr. Levinson's son states he has 'no doubt' that the U.S. government has told its Iranian counterpart that it will no longer negotiate about his father. Dan Levinson, referring to reports about Iran's potential access to the U.S. financial system, expressed confidence that if the U.S. government conditions any negotiations with Iran on the release and return of his father, Tehran would 'quickly resolve the matter.' The FBI has referred to Robert Levinson as 'the longest-held American hostage' in U.S. history, and the U.S. Congress also considers him 'the longest-held citizen prisoner' in the country’s history.