By Ryan Patrick Jones
March 25 (Reuters) – The United States has imposed sanctions on three Iranian intelligence officers for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of former FBI Special Agent Robert Levinson, the U.S. Treasury and State departments said in press releases on Tuesday.
The sanctions on Reza Amiri Moghadam, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and Taqi Daneshvar of Iran‘s Ministry of Intelligence and Security are the latest linked to the disappearance of the former FBI agent, who Washington believes was abducted in Iran and died in captivity.
As a result of the sanctions, any property of the men under U.S. jurisdiction must be blocked and Americans are generally barred from dealing with them. Foreign persons also risk blacklisting for dealing with them.
“Iran’s treatment of Mr. Levinson remains a blight on Iran’s already grim record of human rights abuse,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “The Department of the Treasury will continue to work with U.S. government partners to identify those responsible and shine a light on their abhorrent behavior.”
Levinson, who was working as a private investigator, disappeared in March 2007 after traveling to an island controlled by Iran for a meeting seeking information on alleged corruption involving former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The three sanctioned individuals all played a role in Levinson’s abduction, detention and probable death, as well as efforts to cover up Iran‘s responsibility, the Treasury Department said.
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The sanctions are being imposed under an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden, which seeks to hold to account terrorist organizations, criminal groups and other “malicious actors” who take hostages for financial or political gain.
The U.S. previously sanctioned two other Iranian officials in December 2020 who it accused of involvement in Levinson’s disappearance.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Andrea Ricci)
