FBI adds Iran's envoy to Pakistan to most wanted list
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has added Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, to its Most Wanted list, citing his alleged role in the 2007 disappearance of retired FBI agent Robert A. “Bob” Levinson. Levinson vanished under mysterious circumstances after traveling to Kish Island, Iran, in what was later revealed to be a mission linked to US intelligence.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office released new “Seeking Information” notices on Tuesday evening, naming Moghadam and two other senior officials from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The agency alleges they played central roles not only in Levinson’s abduction but also in a systematic effort to conceal Iran’s involvement in the case over the years.
Reza Amiri Moghadam, who also goes by the alias Ahmad Amirinia, formerly led MOIS’s operations unit, where he oversaw intelligence agents conducting covert missions across Europe. He is now posted as Iran’s top diplomat in Islamabad, a role typically shielded by diplomatic immunity.
According to US investigators, Moghadam allegedly directed the operation that resulted in Levinson’s capture on March 9, 2007, just one day after the former agent arrived on Kish Island. He is also accused of helping coordinate a cover-up that spanned more than a decade, aimed at obscuring what happened to Levinson.
Levinson's family long maintained that he was held in Iranian custody and died there — a claim the Iranian government has repeatedly denied. In 2020, Iran told the United Nations that Levinson had left the country “long ago,” and that they had no information on his fate. The U.S. government, however, concluded that Levinson likely died in captivity.
Despite years of diplomatic efforts, public appeals, and a $5 million reward for information, Levinson's body has never been recovered, and his case remains one of the most haunting unsolved chapters in U.S.-Iran relations. In 2020, the US imposed sanctions on several Iranian officials over Levinson’s case, and in 2022, a US federal judge ordered Iran to pay over $1.4 billion in damages to Levinson’s family.
With the FBI now formally naming and seeking information on Moghadam, the case may place new strain on Iran’s diplomatic standing, particularly in Pakistan, where he serves in an official capacity. The move also highlights Washington’s continued pursuit of accountability in a case that has spanned nearly two decades and deeply impacted US intelligence and diplomatic circles.
.png "Advertisement")
