Senator Bill Nelson Presses Iran for Help Finding Florida man

Florida family’s pending trip to Iran has spurred U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s involvement.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson - December 11, 2007

(PRNewsChannel) / Washington, D.C. - The case of a retired FBI agent who went missing in Iran in March so far has drawn little attention among top U.S. government and Iranian officials.  But that may be changing.

Relatives of Robert Levinson will meet Monday with a U.S. senator on both the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees for a discussion that will come just days after the Florida senator’s closed-door briefing on the case with the FBI today; and, about a week after the State Department publicly backed plans by the Levinson family to travel to Iran in an effort to determine the missing man’s whereabouts. 

The family’s pending trip has spurred U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s involvement.  And, Levinson’s wife Christine and their son, Daniel, are from Florida, in Coral Springs near Miami.  They plan to travel to Tehran next week sometime after their meeting with Nelson. 

So far, they say they have been unable to get any information from the Iranian government about Mr. Levinson, who vanished after arriving on the island of Kish off Iran’s southern coast and checking into a hotel there on March 8.  The Washington Post has reported that Iran even blocked a request by Swiss diplomats to visit Kish to look for any traces of the Florida man. 

“This is a humanitarian case, which transcends political differences,” Nelson wrote of Mr. Levinson’s case, in a letter today to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  The letter will be routed through intermediaries at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, Nelson said.  “Mr. Levinson’s wife and seven children reside in my home state of Florida and have patiently awaited news of their loved one for nine months.

“Mr. Levinson’s wife and other members of his family will travel to Iran later this month,” Nelson wrote.  “I ask that you guarantee their safety, ensure they have productive meetings, and that their questions are answered.”

The letter is going through the Swiss Embassy because Switzerland has been looking after U.S. interests in Tehran since Washington severed relations with Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and seizure of the U.S. embassy and taking of hostages there by student militants.

Earlier Friday, Nelson met with FBI officials for an update on their investigation into the missing American.  Their investigation is limited by the lack of answers from Tehran on even the most basic questions about Levinson’s whereabouts, such as, what steps were taken to investigate his disappearance and what information did that yield.  The FBI is intimately familiar with Levinson, as he’s a former FBI agent who retired from federal service about ten years ago.

Various published accounts say Levinson was in Iran working for his own private consulting business when he disappeared.  Despite frowning on travel to Iran by U.S. citizens, State Department officials said earlier this week they hope Tehran will help the Levinson family when they travel there.

Meantime, it’s not unusual for Nelson to get directly involved in cases like this, especially those involving Florida residents. 

In the past, he pushed the Defense Department to investigate reports that missing Navy pilot Capt. Michael Scott Speicher of Jacksonville, who was shot down during the first Gulf War, was still alive and being held captive.  He also convinced President Alan Garcia of Peru to call for reopening the unsolved case of a murdered Tampa Tribune journalist.  And more recently, he introduced a Senate resolution demanding the immediate release of three Americans with Florida ties who are being held hostage by the Colombian terrorist group known as FARC.

Source: U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson