A missing former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent has been revealed as a spy for the U.S., yet family and friends of the missing man, Robert Levinson, still don’t know where he is or whether he is dead or alive.
Mr. Levinson disappeared while on what relatives called a business trip to Iran in 2007. For years, American officials denied he was employed by the U.S. government at the time of his trip, repeatedly urging the Tehran regime to return him safely.
The last time any “proof of life” was provided came in a 2010 video.
News reports over the past two days revealed that Mr. Levinson worked in the past as a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency.
U.S. officials have confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that his trip to Kish Island in Iran in 2007 was undertaken partly with the intent of providing information to a group of CIA analysts. The officials said Mr. Levinson may have expected payment for information he obtained; in the years since, three of the CIA analysts involved either retired or resigned as a result of the arrangement.
While U.S. officials believe Mr. Levinson was held for years by Iranian authorities, they now no longer are sure who is holding him or whether he is still alive.
Before this past week’s reports, the last public comment on his whereabouts by an American official was a statement then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2011, when she said: “We have received recent indications that Bob is being held somewhere in southwest Asia.”
U.S. officials say they have had no recent information on his whereabouts. But they said his life—if he is alive—is now at far greater risk in the wake of news reports that revealed his past work with the CIA.
“Because there’s not entire clarity about who has him, there is a risk to his life because of this public discussion about his relationship with the CIA,” a U.S. official said.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that the U.S. government urged news organizations not to run the stories “out of concern for Mr. Levinson’s life.” The Associated Press and Washington Post published articles on Thursday, followed by the New York Times on Friday.
Revelations about Mr. Levinson’s relationship with the CIA shed renewed light on the amorphous nature of some of the relationships the agency forges with people—like academics and businessmen—who provide it with information.
Mr. Levinson’s relationship wasn’t a standard contracting role, a U.S. official said. After retiring from the FBI in 1998, he became a private investigator. In 2006, he was given an $85,000 contract to work with analysts and write reports based on his travel and expertise, the AP reported.
When that contract was up, the relationship morphed into an unauthorized operation in which he worked with three CIA analysts to provide information that they paid him for—almost on a freelance basis, a U.S. official said. In general, he would seek out the information, and they would pay him after the fact.
Mr. Levinson disappeared in Kish in March 2007 the day after he was to meet an American who converted to Islam. U.S. officials believed that the Iranian government was responsible, according to a State Department cable released by WikiLeaks.
The last time he was seen was in 2010, when his family received a video from an anonymous source that showed Mr. Levinson was still alive.
There is no evidence the CIA directed him to go to Iran, according to a former official familiar with the issue, but it was clear that Mr. Levinson’s relationship with CIA analysts influenced his decision to go there. “It was an unusual setup,” the former official said.
The relationship wasn’t widely known or approved of within the CIA. When senior officials there learned about the arrangement with Mr. Levinson, they were angry, the U.S. official said. The agency launched an internal probe that led to the removal of the three analysts who worked with Mr. Levinson.
Also in response, the agency revamped its rules governing its work with people outside CIA. It clarified the approval process for such arrangements—requiring more senior officials to sign off—and made clear that the intelligence analysis branch of the agency wasn’t authorized to direct sources to obtain information. That was the role of the National Clandestine Service, which runs secret operations.
In the wake of revelations about Mr. Levinson’s relationship with CIA, his family released a statement criticizing the U.S. government’s efforts to locate him. “The U.S. government has failed to make saving this good man’s life the priority it should be,” the statement said. “It is time for the U.S. government to step up and take care of one of its own.”
Relatives wouldn’t comment further Friday.
–Christopher S. Stewart contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Gorman at [email protected]
Mr. Levinson disappeared while on what relatives called a business trip to Iran in 2007. For years, American officials denied he was employed by the U.S. government at the time of his trip, repeatedly urging the Tehran regime to return him safely.
The last time any “proof of life” was provided came in a 2010 video.
News reports over the past two days revealed that Mr. Levinson worked in the past as a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency.
U.S. officials have confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that his trip to Kish Island in Iran in 2007 was undertaken partly with the intent of providing information to a group of CIA analysts. The officials said Mr. Levinson may have expected payment for information he obtained; in the years since, three of the CIA analysts involved either retired or resigned as a result of the arrangement.
While U.S. officials believe Mr. Levinson was held for years by Iranian authorities, they now no longer are sure who is holding him or whether he is still alive.
Before this past week’s reports, the last public comment on his whereabouts by an American official was a statement then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2011, when she said: “We have received recent indications that Bob is being held somewhere in southwest Asia.”
U.S. officials say they have had no recent information on his whereabouts. But they said his life—if he is alive—is now at far greater risk in the wake of news reports that revealed his past work with the CIA.
“Because there’s not entire clarity about who has him, there is a risk to his life because of this public discussion about his relationship with the CIA,” a U.S. official said.
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said that the U.S. government urged news organizations not to run the stories “out of concern for Mr. Levinson’s life.” The Associated Press and Washington Post published articles on Thursday, followed by the New York Times on Friday.
Revelations about Mr. Levinson’s relationship with the CIA shed renewed light on the amorphous nature of some of the relationships the agency forges with people—like academics and businessmen—who provide it with information.
Mr. Levinson’s relationship wasn’t a standard contracting role, a U.S. official said. After retiring from the FBI in 1998, he became a private investigator. In 2006, he was given an $85,000 contract to work with analysts and write reports based on his travel and expertise, the AP reported.
When that contract was up, the relationship morphed into an unauthorized operation in which he worked with three CIA analysts to provide information that they paid him for—almost on a freelance basis, a U.S. official said. In general, he would seek out the information, and they would pay him after the fact.
Mr. Levinson disappeared in Kish in March 2007 the day after he was to meet an American who converted to Islam. U.S. officials believed that the Iranian government was responsible, according to a State Department cable released by WikiLeaks.
The last time he was seen was in 2010, when his family received a video from an anonymous source that showed Mr. Levinson was still alive.
There is no evidence the CIA directed him to go to Iran, according to a former official familiar with the issue, but it was clear that Mr. Levinson’s relationship with CIA analysts influenced his decision to go there. “It was an unusual setup,” the former official said.
The relationship wasn’t widely known or approved of within the CIA. When senior officials there learned about the arrangement with Mr. Levinson, they were angry, the U.S. official said. The agency launched an internal probe that led to the removal of the three analysts who worked with Mr. Levinson.
Also in response, the agency revamped its rules governing its work with people outside CIA. It clarified the approval process for such arrangements—requiring more senior officials to sign off—and made clear that the intelligence analysis branch of the agency wasn’t authorized to direct sources to obtain information. That was the role of the National Clandestine Service, which runs secret operations.
In the wake of revelations about Mr. Levinson’s relationship with CIA, his family released a statement criticizing the U.S. government’s efforts to locate him. “The U.S. government has failed to make saving this good man’s life the priority it should be,” the statement said. “It is time for the U.S. government to step up and take care of one of its own.”
Relatives wouldn’t comment further Friday.
–Christopher S. Stewart contributed to this article.
Write to Siobhan Gorman at [email protected]