In a dramatic escalation of a long-running international mystery, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has added Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghaddam, to its Most Wanted list for his alleged role in the abduction and enforced disappearance of retired FBI Special Agent Robert A. “Bob” Levinson, who vanished from Iran’s Kish Island in 2007.
The FBI’s Washington Field Office on Tuesday evening released a series of wanted posters naming three senior Iranian intelligence officials accused of orchestrating Levinson’s abduction and of executing a calculated cover-up to obstruct investigations into Tehran’s involvement. The posters are part of a renewed push to bring global attention to the case that has haunted U.S. intelligence circles for nearly two decades.
Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghaddam also known as Ahmad Amirinia is a veteran Iranian intelligence operative who previously headed the operations unit of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). During that time, he is believed to have overseen covert activities and managed agents across Europe. He now holds one of Iran’s most strategically sensitive diplomatic posts as its top envoy in Islamabad.
According to the FBI, Amiri Moghaddam directly supervised the intelligence operation that led to Levinson’s abduction and later played a central role in efforts to conceal the Iranian government’s hand in the incident. Levinson arrived on Kish Island on March 8, 2007, and disappeared the very next day under suspicious circumstances that have never been officially resolved.
“This public identification is a critical step in holding those responsible accountable,” the FBI said in an official statement. “The individuals named in these posters played key roles not only in Levinson’s abduction, but also in an elaborate campaign of deception to hide the Iranian regime’s involvement.”
Also named in the FBI’s Most Wanted posters are Taqi Daneshvar also known as Seyed Taqi Qaemi a senior MOIS counterintelligence officer who allegedly supervised key operatives during Levinson’s disappearance; and Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, a senior MOIS deputy who served as Iran’s ambassador to Albania until his expulsion in 2018 on charges related to threats against national security.
The FBI further alleges that Mohammadnia led an active disinformation campaign to shift blame onto a Baloch militant group operating in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, in an attempt to derail the investigation and absolve Iranian authorities.
“This trio of Iranian intelligence operatives were deeply embedded in the 2007 abduction of Bob Levinson and in Iran’s years-long effort to deny accountability,” said Steven Jensen, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. “Bob likely spent his final days in Iranian captivity, cut off from his family, his friends, and the country he served.”
Grim images and a haunting video of Levinson in captivity were released in 2010 and 2011, revealing a gaunt and ailing figure pleading for help. No confirmed trace of him has been found since, and in March 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Amiri Moghaddam and several others over their alleged role in the case.
While no evidence has emerged implicating Pakistani officials, the ambassador’s presence in Islamabad has now placed the issue squarely in the context of U.S.-Pakistan-Iran diplomatic relations. With Amiri Moghaddam serving in a high-profile diplomatic role, the FBI’s latest move draws Islamabad directly into the orbit of a case that continues to reverberate across international intelligence and legal frameworks.
The FBI has reaffirmed that its investigation remains active and that it is pursuing leads to identify additional Iranian operatives linked to the case. The agency has appealed for international cooperation in the pursuit of justice for Levinson and accountability for those behind one of the most controversial and unresolved disappearances in modern intelligence history.
