'Absolutely devastating': The Iran prisoner swap didn't include one American who went missing 9 years ago
In a final transaction before the US lifted long-standing sanctions on Iran, the two nations completed a high-profile prisoner swap Saturday.
The US received four dual-nationality men held in Iran - including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, and a student held 40 days - in exchange for seven people who were charged with violating the now-lifted sanctions against Iran, according to The Associated Press.
Yet, one American who went missing in Iran more than eight years ago was not included in the swap.
That man is former FBI agent Robert Levinson, whose family said in a weekend statement that they're "devastated." They added Tuesday they're "desperate for answers," Reuters reported.
"We are happy for the other families," they said in the weekend statement. "But once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind."
Levinson disappeared during a visit to Iran's Kish Island in 2007. His family said in 2013 he was working as a freelance "spy" for a rogue CIA operation at the time. That came after six years of US officials claiming he was on the island working as a private investigator. US officials also believed that Levinson, 67, who was a diabetic, died in captivity after apparently meeting with an American-born Islamic militant on the island.
The CIA even launched an internal investigation into Levinson's relationship with its analytical division, which was deemed to be unauthorized. Three officials within the intelligence organization lost their jobs, with several more disciplined as a result, according to Reuters.
Iran has denied for years that it knew anything about Levinson's whereabouts, a claim that both US officials and his family have repeatedly refuted.
Levinson served more than two decades in the FBI, which has a $5 million reward out for information leading to his location, according to Reuters.
Obama made mention of Levinson in his Sunday speech celebrating the prisoner release when he said the government would "not rest" until Levinson is found. Senior administration officials told reporters in a conference call over the weekend that there had been some "progress" made on Levinson's case.
"We've also agreed to continue a dialogue with Iran through multiple channels for missing persons, in particularly for Bob Levinson," one senior official said. "And we made some progress in that case, but that's a case that we are never going to quit and never going to give up on, and he's central to our minds every single day. And we're going to continue to do everything we possibly can to find Bob and bring him home."
Also on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry wrote on Twitter that Iran would work more closely with the US to find Levinson.
Levinson's family is highly skeptical of the White House's assurances. They said they've been "betrayed" - not only because he wasn't included in the prisoner swap, but also because no one from the White House notified them about the impending exchange in advance, according to ABC News. They learned of it on TV.
"I thought after nine years that they would have enough respect for our family to at least tell us in advance that this is happening," Levinson's wife, Christine, told ABC News. "It could have been five minutes, but to find out on the TV for the whole family … was wrong. It was absolutely devastating."
Kerry told CNN he feels "horrible" for the family.
"I know it's very, very difficult for his family to see these other people come back and to not have answers," he said.
On Monday, Sarah Moriarty, one of Levinson's seven children, wrote a column for CNN detailing her family's despair.