• Secretary of State: 'I have personally raised the issue'
• AP reported Robert Levinson was working for the CIA
Secretary of State John Kerry has said the United States has not abandoned a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran nearly seven years ago, and that he personally has raised the issue, according to an interview with ABC News.
Robert Levinson, a private detective and ex-federal agent, disappeared during a trip to an Iranian island in March 2007. The White House says he was not a government employee at the time.
This week, the Associated Press and the Washington Post reported that Levinson was in fact working for a rogue CIA operation when he disappeared. Kerry rejected that claim, according to ABC.
Levinson's lawyer, David McGee, told Reuters on Friday his client was investigating allegations of corruption by well-connected people in Iran. Levinson's family believes the US government has "not acted to its full capacities" in trying to free him, he said.
"There hasn't been progress in the sense that we don't have him back. But to suggest that we have abandoned him or anybody has abandoned him is simply incorrect and not helpful," Kerry said, according to excerpts from ABC television's This Week.
"The fact is, that I have personally raised the issue not only at the highest level that I have been involved with, but also through other intermediaries."
The interview will be broadcast on Sunday.
Kerry, the top US diplomat, met Levinson's family on 8 March this year, the day before the sixth anniversary of Levinson's disappearance. Last year, the FBI offered a rare $1m reward for information that could lead to his safe return.
Iran has said it does not know where Levinson is, but Kerry told ABC he thinks the Iranian government can help find him.
"We're looking for proof of life," Kerry said. "There are a number of different channels that are being worked aggressively."
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