By Adeola AdeosunShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberThe family of Robert Levinson, the ex-FBI agent who vanished in Iran in 2007 and is believed to have died in Iranian custody, is calling on the U.S. government to ensure any nuclear deal with Tehran includes the return of his remains.
The family issued a statement on X provided to Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin following the confirmed killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader who oversaw the regime the family holds responsible for Levinson's kidnapping, detention, and presumed death.
The Context
The statement comes as the U.S. and Israel continue a widening military campaign against Iran, raising urgent questions about the fate of Americans who died or disappeared in Iranian custody.
The U.S. and Israel have struck targets across Iran on Saturday, killing Khamenei and more than 200 others, while Iran has launched retaliatory missile strikes at Israel and Gulf Arab states that killed three American service members — the first known U.S. casualties of the conflict. President Donald Trump has vowed to "avenge" their deaths and warned of further escalation.
Amid that rapidly widening war, the Levinson family is urging the administration not to lose sight of Americans like their father — those who died or remain unaccounted for at the hands of the Iranian regime.
...Who Was Robert Levinson?
Levinson was a retired FBI agent and private investigator who disappeared on March 9, 2007, on the Iranian island of Kish, where he had traveled to meet a source. For years, U.S. officials described him as a private citizen working independently, but a 2013 Associated Press investigation revealed he had been dispatched on an unauthorized mission by CIA analysts who lacked the authority to run such an operation.
He spent more than a decade unaccounted for, with his family receiving only sporadic and unverified proof-of-life communications. In 2020, the U.S. government officially concluded he had died while in Iranian custody, though the precise circumstances of his death remain unknown. Levinson was a father of seven children and had spent nearly two decades with the FBI before retiring and entering the private sector.
His case became one of the most high-profile examples of an American citizen lost to Iranian detention — a cause his family has fought to keep alive ever since, demanding answers, remains, and justice from a government that has denied involvement for nearly two decades.
Levinson Family Statement
Statement from the family of Robert Levinson:
From the family of Robert Levinson:
"For nearly 19 years, Iran has lied, obstructed, and refused to answer for the kidnapping, detention, and death of our father, Robert Levinson. He was taken by Iranian officials in 2007, held for years without basic human rights, denied contact with his family, and never returned home.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the regime responsible for these crimes. His death does not erase what Iran did to our father, and it does not end our fight for accountability. But it is a significant moment for our family and for every family that has suffered at the hands of this regime’s hostage-taking and wrongful detention.
We are grateful to President Trump and Secretary Rubio for using the power of the United States to confront Iran and to hold it accountable, including by recognizing and addressing Iran’s long-standing practice of wrongful detention.
At the same time, our hearts are with the Iranian people as they continue their struggle for freedom, dignity, and a future free from the repression of this regime.
Now Iran must do what it has refused to do for nearly two decades: provide full accountability for what happened to our father, return his remains to our family, and disclose the truth about his kidnapping, imprisonment, and death.
Our family will not stop demanding the truth. And we will not stop demanding justice."
...What Happens Next
With Iran's leadership in transition and the military conflict still escalating, the Levinson family is pressing for their father's case to remain a condition of any future agreement between Washington and Tehran.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
Update 3/1/26, 7:48 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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