On Tuesday, Florida’s two U.S. senators--Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Bill Nelson--and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., urged President Donald Trump to push Iran to release Robert Levinson, a Florida resident who has been missing in that Middle Eastern nation for a decade.
With Trump meeting other world leaders at the UN this week and UN Amb. Nikki Haley planning to focus on Iran during Wednesday’s meeting of the Security Council, the members of the Florida delegation called on Trump to keep the pressure on Iran.
“While your administration has reportedly changed the focus of the special session, we are hopeful that you, as chair of the session, will still take this opportunity to publicly press Iran to return our constituent, Robert Levinson, the longest-held civilian in our nation’s history,” they wrote. “Since Bob went missing from Iran’s Kish Island on March 9, 2007, the Iranian regime has repeatedly promised to assist in locating and returning Bob. Yet those promises remain unfulfilled, and the United Nations’ own Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Iran responsible for holding Bob. We must not miss an opportunity to press Iran to return Bob.
“Therefore, we request that you use the full weight of the United States as President of the Security Council to press the international community for action in ending Iran’s shameful practice of detaining Americans. We are concerned that, without concerted American leadership, Bob and others will not remain a priority,” they continued. “Mr. President, in 2015, you vowed to bring Bob home. For now more than a decade, the Levinson Family has watched as Bob was forgotten time and again. The United States simply must do more to see that Bob is finally brought home. We look forward to your administration’s swift action.”
The Florida delegation worked together back in 2016 to pass resolutions in both chambers of Congress demanding Iran offer more assistance in getting Levinson back home. Levinson, who worked for the FBI and DEA, went missing in 2007 during a private investigation case in Iran involving cigarette smuggling. Back in 2013, the Associated Press ran a story insisting Levinson worked for the CIA.
Nelson and Rubio brought out the resolution in the Senate which passed without opposition in February 2016.
“It is outrageous that the Iranian government has failed to provide information that would help bring Bob home,” Rubio said at that time. “The Obama administration missed an opportunity to make the freedom of Americans held in Iran a priority during the nuclear negotiations, and has left Bob’s case unresolved even as they have continued to make concession after concession to Tehran.
“Bob and his family deserve much better,” Rubio added. “This sends an important message that America stands with the Levinsons and we want to see the Iranian regime provide information regarding the whereabouts of Bob so that his wife and their seven children can get the answers they deserve.”
The House followed suit at the end of February 2016, passing a similar resolution from Deutch.
“For the families of the four American prisoners released by Iran earlier this year, the nightmare is finally over. But it is not over for my constituents, the Levinson family,” Deutch said on the House floor. “Bob Levinson is a patriot who loves this country dearly and devoted his life to public service. It is now time for this country to come through for Bob, and do everything in our power to bring him home.
“For anyone watching this debate today, I encourage you to tweet about Bob Levinson using the hashtag #WhatAboutBob," Deutch added. “For those in South Florida, I encourage you to come support the Levinson family this Saturday in Coral Springs. We must keep talking about Bob. We must raise the level of awareness around Bob’s case. We must encourage our government – and the governments of our friends and allies – to continue to work tirelessly to find Bob and to bring him home.”
Last year, Nelson led efforts to send a letter to Trump, urging the White House to press Iran on the matter and calling on him to meet with Levinson’s family. Other members of the Florida delegation, including Republicans Rubio and U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrats Deutch and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, signed the letter. So did a host of leading familiar faces on Capitol Hill including U.S. Sens. Corey Booker, D-NJ, Richard Burr, R-NC, Bob Corker, R-Tenn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and Charles Schumer, D-NY, and U.S. Reps. Eliot Engel, D-NY, and Ed Royce, R-Calif.
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