By Al-Fassel | 2025-07-28

The FBI has released photographs of three high-ranking Iranian intelligence officers allegedly involved in the March 9, 2007 abduction and probable death of retired FBI special agent Robert Levinson.

Eighteen years after his disappearance on Iran's Kish Island, US officials in March 2020 concluded Levinson had likely died in Iranian custody.

Analysts say the incident is just one example of the way the Iranian regime uses state-sponsored kidnappings as a tool for international coercion, and detains foreign nationals as political leverage.

The three Iranian officials are current and former diplomats and senior officers within the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the FBI said July 15.

This demonstrates the Iranian regime's systematic misuse of its global diplomatic presence to undermine stability and its "attempt to obfuscate its responsibility," it said in a statement.

Reza Amiri Moghadam, aka Ahmad Amirinia, currently serves as Iran's ambassador to Pakistan after previously leading the MOIS operations unit.

Taghi Daneshvar, aka Sayyed Taghi Ghaemi, holds a senior MOIS position involving counterespionage activities and supervised Mohammad Baseri during Levinson's disappearance timeframe, according to the FBI statement.

Baseri is an Iranian intelligence officer directly implicated in the case.

The third official, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, served as Iran's ambassador to Albania from 2016 until December 2018, when Albanian authorities expelled him for activities that damaged national security.

Mohammadnia orchestrated a disinformation campaign attempting to pin Levinson's disappearance on a terrorist group operating in Pakistan's Balochistan region to shift blame away from the Iranian government, according to the FBI.

Cover-up campaign

"These three intelligence officers were among those who allegedly facilitated [Levinson's] 2007 abduction and the subsequent cover-up by the Iranian government," said FBI Washington office assistant director Steven Jensen.

"The FBI will continue its relentless pursuit to hold anyone involved in his abduction to account for their reprehensible actions," he said.

The Iranian regime has spent nearly two decades denying knowledge of Levinson's whereabouts while evidence shows senior intelligence officials authorized his abduction, detention and a disinformation campaign to deflect blame from Tehran, the FBI said.

The US Treasury sanctioned Baseri and another Iranian intelligence officer, Ahmad Khazai, in December 2020 for their roles in Levinson's abduction.

In March 2025, Treasury expanded sanctions to include the three newly identified officials -- Moghadam, Daneshvar and Mohammadnia.

The FBI continues to offer a $5 million reward for information about the case, while the State Department's Rewards for Justice program provides an additional $20 million for intelligence leading to his location, recovery and return.