Nasser Karimi of the Associated Press reports that Iran

had refused a request by the Swiss Embassy to travel to the site where an American is believed to have disappeared earlier this year.

Robert Levinson was last seen March 8 on Kish Island, a resort off the southern coast of Iran, and Tehran has repeatedly said it has no information on his whereabouts.

Levinson is a former FBI agent who retired in 1998, and the FBI has said it has not had contact with him since then. He had reportedly gone to Kish Island to seek information on cigarette smuggling for a client of his security firm.

The Swiss Embassy in Iran represents U.S. interests in the country because Washington has no diplomatic ties with Tehran, but it was unclear whether the travel request was made on behalf of the U.S.

“They had asked to travel to Kish Island, but Iranian authorities demanded they explain the reasons and necessities for such a visit,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said Sunday during his weekly media briefing. “Iranian forces are still looking for a trace of him,” he added.

The State Department has made repeated requests for information on the missing American through Swiss intermediaries, and considers it likely that he is in Iranian custody.

The Swiss Embassy in Iran could not immediately be reached for comment Sunday and the Swiss Foreign Ministry refused to comment.

Christine Levinson, the missing man’s wife, said last month that she planned to travel to Iran to investigate his disappearance. Iran said at the time that it would consider allowing her to come even though the State Department advised against it because of the risk.

Link to AP report.    Via Noisy Room

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