Wexler Sends Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Regarding Disappearance of Robert Levinson

January 22, 2009

The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC  20520

Dear Secretary Clinton:

I want to offer my congratulations to you on your nomination as Secretary of State.  As a senior member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, I look forward to working with you and the Obama Administration addressing the pressing foreign policy issue facing our nation.  That end, I want to bring to your attention the deeply troubling case of Robert Levinson, my constituent from Coral Springs, Florida, who disappeared from Kish Island, Iran on March 9, 2007.  It is my understanding that Senator Bill Nelson inquired about Mr. Levinson’s case during your confirmation hearings on January 12, 2009 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

As you may be aware, despite attempts to track down Mr. Levinson, scant evidence has surfaced regarding his whereabouts, and there are deepening concerns regarding his health and safety.  To this end, I respectfully request your assistance and that of the Obama Administration in ensuring that all available diplomatic avenues are employed to ensure his safe return to the United States.

Mr. Levinson, a former FBI agent, was last heard from on March 8, 2007 by his wife Christine, while he was working in Dubai as a private investigator.  According to his family, he checked into a hotel on Kish Island and checked out the following morning to fly back to the United States. Unfortunately, Mr. Levinson never arrived at the airport for his flight, and there is no accounting for what happened to him once he left the hotel.

Mr. Levinson’s wife, Christine and other Levinson family members traveled to Iran in December 2007, and with assistance from Swiss officials in Tehran, were able to visit the hotel where he was last seen and pass out flyers in Farsi with photos of Robert.  They also met with local Iranian authorities to seek their assistance in gaining information about Mr. Levinson’s disappearance.  The Levinson family was not assisted by the Iranian authorities, who claimed to have zero knowledge regarding Mr. Levinson’s whereabouts and have stonewalled any effort to gain pertinent information.

It is my understanding that the Swiss Ambassador in Tehran has discussed the Levinson case

during meetings with Iranian officials, but no further information about Mr. Levinson’s whereabouts has been gleaned from such discussions.  While US engagement with Iran is and has been extremely limited, it is critical that the Obama Administration employ every diplomatic tool at its disposal to locate Mr. Levinson and return him to his family in the United States.  More specifically, we ask that you to enlist our allies who have official diplomatic relations with Iran and urge them to discuss this case with Iranian authorities, as well as include this issue in any dialogue that may result as part of efforts to bridge the diplomatic gap between Washington and Tehran.  

Secretary Clinton, I had an opportunity to meet with Christine Levinson in 2008 upon the first anniversary of her husband’s disappearance and heard her appeals for assistance on his behalf.  Her heartfelt desire to bring Mr. Levinson home is matched by that of her family and many Floridians who came together for a rally of solidarity held on the one-year anniversary of Robert’s disappearance. 

As we approach the two year anniversary of Mr. Levinson’s disappearance, we hope that the Obama Administration will take steps to ensure his case is raised at the highest levels and that an intensive effort is made to locate and bring him home.  I greatly appreciate your willingness as indicated in your recent confirmation hearing to address this troubling case and look forward to working with you to bring home Mr. Levinson.

I look forward to your response to my request for assistance.

Sincerely,

Robert Wexler