The US has previously identified and sanctioned Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai in the disappearance and presumed death of Levinson, and Tuesday’s announcement reflects a renewed determination by US authorities to resolve the case. The US government has said Levinson was abducted in Iran in March 2007.
In its release on Tuesday, the FBI said Baseri and Khazai acted in their roles as officials in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security during “Bob’s abduction, detention, and probable death.”
The bureau reiterated its standing reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to Levinson’s “location, recovery, and return.” The State Department also is offering a reward of up to $20 million for such information.
“Our extensive investigation continues to develop new leads and intelligence, and we will pursue all options to hold every Iranian official involved in his abduction accountable,” said Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division.
Levinson’s family said in 2020 that they believed he was dead after receiving information from US officials and that it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The former FBI agent traveled to Kish Island, Iran, in early March 2007, according to State Department officials, and was never publicly seen or heard from again.
Iranian officials had long denied that Levinson was ever in the country, claiming there was no proof. However, a United Nations working group said in November 2019 that Iran’s Justice Department had acknowledged that there was “an ongoing case in the Public Prosecution and Revolutionary Court of Tehran” for Levinson.
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