Iran may consider American's request By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer

Iran may consider American's request By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 32 minutes ago



TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's Foreign Ministry said Sunday it would consider allowing the wife of an American man who vanished in Iran earlier this year to visit the Islamic country to search for him.

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"The request has not officially been relayed to us yet. If it is conveyed, we will review it," ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters.

On Thursday, Christine Levinson, the wife of missing former FBI agent Robert Levinson said she was planning to travel to Iran in search of her husband even though she was advised by the State Department not to travel to the country because of the risk.

Christine Levinson has said she was in the process of obtaining visas and making flight reservations to travel to Iran with her oldest son. They hope to meet with authorities in Tehran and Kish Island.

Robert Levinson was last seen March 8 on Kish Island, a resort off the southern coast of Iran, where he had gone to seek information on cigarette smuggling for a client of his security firm, R.A. Levinson & Associates, based in Coral Springs, Fla.

His wife believes he remains in Iran because his name has not shown up on any flight manifests of planes leaving the country and his passport has not been used anywhere. Robert Levinson retired in 1998 from the FBI, which has said it has not had contact with Levinson since then.

The Iranian government has denied any knowledge of Levinson despite repeated requests on his whereabouts by the State Department through Swiss intermediaries.

The Swiss Embassy in Iran agreed to pass along the travel requests because the United States and Iran do not have formal diplomatic ties.