Kerry rejects notion US has abandoned search for American missing in Iran, says hunt continues

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/15/kerry-rejects-notion-us-has-abandon-american-missing-in-iran-says-hunt/

Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday rejected allegations that the United States has abandoned the search for a CIA agent who disappeared six years ago in Iran, saying he and other top officials are continuing to try to find him.

“To suggest that we have abandoned him or anybody has abandoned him is simply incorrect, and not helpful," Kerry told ABC’s “This Week.”

However, Kerry acknowledged the lack of progress in finding 67-year-old Robert Levinson, who was last known to be on rogue CIA mission on a Iranian island in 2007.

“There hasn't been progress in the sense that we don't have him back," said Kerry, who hopes the Iranian government will help in the search.

"We're looking for proof of life,” Kerry told ABC. “We're working on several processes that I'm not free to talk about. But there are a number of different channels that are being worked aggressively. … I can't tell you what happened or how the sequence was. But I think the Iranian government has the ability to help us here, and we hope they will."

On Friday, Levinson's family released a statement on the situation, saying "our family should not be struggling to get through each day without this wonderful, caring, man that we love so much."

"Bob is a courageous man who has dedicated himself, including risking his own life, in service to the U.S. government," the statement read. "But the U.S. government has failed to make saving this good man's life the priority it should be. There are those in the U.S. government who have done their duty in their efforts to find Bob, but there are those who have not.  It is time for the U.S. government to step up and take care of one of its own."

The revelations about Levinson and his work in the CIA were made public last week.

In March 2007, Levinson flew to Kish Island, an Iranian resort awash with tourists, smugglers and organized crime figures. Days later, after an arranged meeting with an admitted killer, he checked out of his hotel, slipped into a taxi and vanished. For years, the U.S. has publicly described Levinson as a private citizen who traveled to the tiny Persian Gulf island on private business.