Iran Rejects US Statement on Missing Ex-FBI Agent
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry dismissed a recent US statement that has urged Iran to return a long-missing American national who is said to have disappeared in 2007, reiterating that Tehran has no information about Robert Levinson’s disappearance or fate.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has already announced time and again that the person in question had traveled to Iran at a certain point in time, and then left Iran, and (Tehran) has no information about his fate after he left the country,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said in a statement on Saturday.
He made the comments in reaction to recent statements by the US Department of State and the FBI which have called on Iran to return the missing American national or fulfill its commitment to helping the US find Levinson.
“Today, on the 11th anniversary of Robert A. Bob Levinson’s disappearance from Kish Island, Iran, the FBI calls for his return. Mr. Levinson disappeared on March 9, 2007, and as he was taken inside Iran, the FBI and the United States Government call on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to return Mr. Levinson home to his family,” an FBI statement on March 9 claimed.
Elsewhere in his statement, the Iranian spokesperson said Tehran has adopted a humanitarian approach towards the issue in order to help Levinson’s family.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has no commitment to the US government regarding the issue, and Iran’s assistance in the past was on humanitarian grounds,” Qassemi explained.
He said the US officials have already announced that they identified the whereabouts of the former FBI agent somewhere in South Asia.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s assistance and cooperation concerning the issue of the American national come as the US government, in return, has adopted an inhumane approach when it comes to helping the Iranian nationals detained in the United States. The US has not only kept them in prisons and long-term detention, but also does not allow their families to visit them,” the spokesperson concluded.
