On March 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated three officials in the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (“MOIS”) for their alleged roles in the abduction, detention and probable death of former FBI Special Agent Robert “Bob” Levinson. Levinson, who retired from the FBI in 1998, went missing during a business trip to Kish Island, Iran in 2007. OFAC designated Reza Amiri Moghadam, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and Taqi Daneshvar for their alleged roles in Iran’s efforts to obfuscate their responsibility. The United States designated MOIS in 2012 pursuant to Executive Order 13553 in connection with serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people, and named MOIS as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under EO 13224 for supporting Foreign Terrorist Organizations Hizballah, HAMAS and Al-Qa’ida. MOIS was also designated in 2023 for its involvement in the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens, including Bob Levinson.
The new designations were imposed by OFAC in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which continues to investigate Levinson’s disappearance. According to FBI Director Kash Patel, the FBI will continue its investigation until all Iranian officers involved in Levinson’s abduction are identified. The designations were imposed pursuant to EO 14078, which targets those involved in hostage-taking of U.S. nationals or the wrongful detention of U.S. nationals abroad. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designees within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated persons. Entities owned 50 percent or more by a designated person or entity are also blocked.
OFAC also reported that, since November 2019, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program has offered a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to Bob Levinson’s location, recovery, and return and the identities of those responsible for his disappearance.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | Rewards For Justice – Reward