U.S. Court Finds Iran Culpable for American Hostage’s Death

A photo of Robert Levinson, retired FBI agency, in Iranian detention, received by his family in April 2011. Source.

Robert Levinson travelled to Kish Island, an Iranian controlled territory, in March 2007 and was not seen again. A proof of life video was released in December 2011, but after nine more years of silence and new information, he was declared dead by his family March 25, 2020. The United States and his family have publicly blamed the Iranians, and now a federal judge has ordered Iran to pay $1.4 billion in damages for his capture and likely death.

Levinson, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent, was contracting with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at the time of his capture. Initially, the U.S. denied any involvement and his wife believed he was in Iran on a private work trip with his consulting firm. His emails revealed he was in contact with CIA agents who did not have the authority to approve his clandestine mission, nor did they go through the proper channels to get the mission approved. This information led to a shakeup within the CIA. Three agents were forced out of the agency and seven others were punished. The CIA paid the Levinson family $2.5 million to ward off a lawsuit and to keep quiet any further details of his investigation. The 13 years Levinson was believed to be imprisoned is the longest period of time an American civilian has been held hostage.

While foreign states are typically immune from the decisions of U.S. courts, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allows citizens to sue other governments in the courts under limited circumstances. One such circumstance is when “money damages are sought against a foreign state for personal injury or death that was caused by an act of torture, extrajudicial killing, aircraft sabotage, hostage taking,” when the action or the funds for an action came from the government.

Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington DC released his orders from Levinson et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran on October 1, 2020. In his opinion, he writes that Iran’s continued attacks on U.S. citizens are “part of a longstanding pattern and policy, making the need for deterrence clear,” citing the two other cases in the last three years where Iran has been ordered to pay punitive damages for injury. The $1.4 billion figure took into consideration the political environment in hopes that the figure would also contribute to deterring future action. The court used the precedent of the case of Otto Warmbier, the American who was held by North Korea for 17 months before being sent home in coma and dying a week after his arrival in the U.S. 

Judge Kelly is therefore officially holding Iran responsible for Levinson’s capture and likely death, a fact they have long disputed. A spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Minister decried the judgement calling it “another example of the American's extravagances and bullying.” Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have been high recently, especially since the U.S. pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or the JCPOA) in favor of tough unilateral sanctions. Earlier this year, the U.S. strikes that killed General Solemani and Iran’s retaliatory strikes brought the two countries dangerously close to war. Other Americans remain hostages in Iran and there is concern that in the face of crippling sanctions Iran will increasingly use hostages as pawns. Whether or not the record high judgement in the Levinson case will function as a deterrent remains to be seen. While Iran will almost certainly not pay or admit culpability, the U.S. holds frozen Iranian assets it could use to pay the Levinson family. Choosing to use these assets would certainly outrage the Iranians as they would see it as an act of theft. The judge’s decision will only add another layer to an already complicated relationship.