Washington sanctions Tehran for the disappearance of an FBI agent
By: Robert Jones
Tags: Washington, Iran, United States, Tehran

The administration’s pressure on Iran remains very high in the last days of the Donald Trump presidency in the U.S. Several signals were sent by Trump’s staff in a few hours. And at the same time, Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian President, has responded with other moves. The news of the day is that the U.S. is now blaming Iran directly for the disappearance and ‘probable death’ of FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared in 2007 in Iran.The indictment follows a move by the Treasury Department, which announced new sanctions on Monday against two senior Tehran government officials, Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai.

The two officials are members of the Iranian intelligence system, accused of being the perpetrators of Levinson’s abduction, according to many reports. In announcing the sanctions, the Treasury Department accused the Iranian government of first setting up the plan to make the American agent disappear and then covering up its role with a disinformation campaign.

The Trump administration had already concluded a few months ago that it believed Levinson was dead, without stating the reasons for that conclusion. A Washington court ordered Iran to pay $1.35 billion to Levinson’s family in October to compensate them for the loss.

On March 9, 2007, Levinson went missing on the island of Kish, where he was expected to meet with a source. Initially, the agent was reported to be working on a private investigation. But six years later, “The Associated Press” revealed that Levinson was on a mission for CIA analysts, who were not authorised to order such an operation.

The family showed evidence that Levinson was still alive in 2010 and then a video in 2011, when they got some pictures of him with a long beard and orange jumpsuit similar to those of the Guantanamo prisoners. Just days after the transition of power from Trump to Joe Biden, the sanctions against the two Tehran intelligence officials came so much so that a US intelligence source tells Washington.

It is precisely because the question of the Iranian ballistic programme has long been on the table that the Iranian president explains this. Without resorting to nuclear weapons, Iran would be able to hold several Arab countries in the area and Israel itself under pressure by improving its missile capabilities.

A negotiated agreement with Iran that does not provide for the release of Americans who are unjustly imprisoned in that country should never be negotiated again The administration’s source tells the Washington Post, adding that they expect negotiations to resume next year, but they must include three American citizens returning home.

President Hassan Rouhani talked to the Iranian Front yesterday to give many messages. The first, on the substance of a proposed new nuclear agreement, to the United States and Europe. Tehran wants the U.S. back to honour the one that Trump signed with Barack Obama and abandoned in 2018.

But the need to expand the deal to ballistic missiles, not just nuclear power, was reaffirmed by Washington. “President Biden knows very well that the Iranian missile programme is non-negotiable and will not enter any new discussions,”President Biden knows very well that the Iranian missile programme is non-negotiable and will not enter into new discussions.

For that reason, even European governments — most recently German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas — have been arguing for days that they can only return to negotiating with Iran if Tehran decides to speak about its missile programmes. But this option was denied by Rouhani.

The Iranian president then cites the example of the European protests in the case of Zam, the journalist hanged last week, accused with his Telegram messages of having instigated and orchestrated the December 2018 uprising. “I don’t think it will damage our relations with Europe. The Iranian judicial system is independent of the will of the government.” says the president, suggesting that his execution complied with local law.