Mrs. Robert Levinson

Mrs. Levinson has appealed to the Iranian president because she believes Tehran can help.Levinson, a private businessman, aged 59, was last heard of on Iran's Kish island on March 8.

On May 7, DEBKAfile quoted Kurdish intelligence sources in northern Iraq as reporting that the missing man had in early May crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan from Iran.

Mrs. Levinson said that although her husband's former job and present private pursuits take him to dangerous parts of the world, he always leaves her with an itinerary and calls home every day.The couple has seven children.She appealed for anyone with information about her husband to come forward.

DEBKAfile sources suggest his disappearance may be connected with Tehran's demand for the release of five Iranian officers in the hands of US forces in Iraq since January.

DEBKAfile's exclusive Kurdish intelligence sources report: Iran has released former FBI agent Robert Levinson, 59, held since March 11

May 7, 2007, 11:18 AM (GMT+02:00)

Robert Levinson
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Robert Levinson

Least publicized of all is the apparent holding of former FBI agent Robert Levinson as a hostage in Iran, where he was visiting in March.

Last week Iran also arrested, on trumped-up spying charges, Haleh Esfandiari, director of Middle East programs for the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars in Washington DC and an American citizen.

Mrs. Levinson has appealed to the Iranian president because she believes Tehran can help.Levinson, a private businessman, aged 59, was last heard of on Iran's Kish island on March 8.

Tehran was clearly miffed at Washington's failure to reciprocate by freeing at least one of the five Revolutionary Guards officers held in Iraq, for the former FBI agent Robert Levinson held from March 11, whom Iran released Tuesday, May 1.