On March 9, 2007, retired FBI agent Robert “Bob” Levinson disappeared on Iran‘s Kish Island, a free trade zone and resort island in the Persian Gulf. He was seeking to interview Dawud Salahuddin about a cigarette-smuggling ring. Salahuddin, born David Belfield, converted to Islam and fled to Iran after gunning down an Iranian dissident in Bethesda, Maryland, in April 1980.
Kish may be a free trade zone that, in theory, welcomes tourists. But the reality is that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dominates the island’s import-export businesses and owns its resorts. Simply put, the IRGC uses the island as a hub for money laundering. The island may be visa-free, but the IRGC determines who can enter and exit, as well as who is permitted to operate there. When Levinson disappeared, there were no suspects outside of Iran’s military and security agencies.
This is why, on June 1, 2007, former President George W. Bush demanded Iranian leaders provide information on Levinson’s condition. The Levinson family subsequently received a proof-of-life video in November 2010. The following year, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the United States still believed Levinson was alive. However, by 2020, U.S. intelligence concluded that Levinson had died in Iranian custody. Former President Barack Obama sent pallets of cash to Iran in several installments in January and February 2016 as part of a deal to release American hostages held by the Islamic Republic. Levinson was not among them.
Perhaps it is time for Congress to approach the Levinson case with the same verve it has shown the Epstein files: demand the declassification of all files related to Levinson, as well as any discussions about the decision not to include Levinson.
Did former Secretary of State John Kerry and his team, some of whom rose to top positions on former President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, know Levinson was still alive when they began negotiating the Iranian nuclear deal, a period during which they unfroze billions of dollars to incentivize Iran? Did Obama and Kerry sacrifice Levinson to remove an “obstacle” to reaching the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action? When Obama and Kerry agreed to what amounted to a $1.7 billion hostage ransom in January and February 2016, why did they not include Levinson in the agreement? If Iran said he was already deceased, why did Obama and Kerry not demand a full accounting of the circumstances of his death or demand the release of his body?
Why should the internal deliberations about the decision to abandon Levinson not be made public? Did Obama, Biden, Kerry, or senior aides, such as Jake Sullivan or Jon Finer, advocate leaving Levinson behind, either while they believed him alive or dead? If none have anything to hide, why not be transparent?
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In Gaza, President Donald Trump struck a deal to repatriate the remains of dead Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. This leads to a further question: If the U.S. can lend its diplomatic weight to releasing others’ hostages, why is Congress still silent on the fate of Levinson’s remains?
It is time for full transparency on the Levinson case. All files relating to the shameful decision to leave a man behind should be declassified.
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential. He is the director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
