Robert Levinson's family says that the retired FBI agent was in Iran to investigate a cigarette-smuggling case when he disappeared in Iran in 2007. Since then, his family has urged the Iranian government to cooperate with an investigation, to little avail. No news of his whereabouts or whether he was still alive came out of the country since his disappearance.
But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a mysterious announcement today, saying that the U.S. State Department "has received recent indications that
Bob is being held somewhere in southwest Asia."
Levinson lived in Coral Springs and disappeared while visiting the resort island of Kish on March 9, 2007 -- four years ago next week. Last month, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported on a Wikileaks revelation that an escaped prisoner said he thought he had seen Levinson in a secret jail operated by Iran's revolutionary guard.
Iranian defectors have speculated that Levinson may have been arrested for spying or kidnapped by mobsters. Dawud Salahuddin, an American expatriate who was accused of killing the Shah of Iran, said he had spoken with Levinson shortly before his disappearance.
Previously, Iran rebuffed a request by the United States to let Swiss investigators search for signs of Levinson. However, their tone seems to have changed: Iran "has previously offered its assistance in this matter," said Clinton.
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has also pressured the government to step up its investigation of Levinson's disappearance.
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