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Iran or US? Pakistan lands in a catch-22 situation as Iranian ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam is 'most wanted' by FBI

Iran or US? Pakistan lands in a catch-22 situation as Iranian ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam is 'most wanted' by FBI

Economic Times8 hours ago
ANI
Reza Amiri Moghadam (M).
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the US has named three senior Iranian intelligence officers in connection with the 2007 abduction of retired FBI agent Robert A "Bob" Levinson from Kish Island in Iran, the US federal agency said in a statement. The three men identified are Reza Amiri Moghadam, Taghi Daneshvar and Gholamhossein Mohammadnia. The FBI's Washington Field Office said the trio played key roles in Levinson's kidnapping and in efforts to hide Iran's involvement. Reza Amiri Moghadam, an official of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is wanted for questioning based on his alleged involvement in the abduction, detention, and probable death of retired FBI Special Agent Robert A. Levinson.
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Reza Amiri Moghadam, now serving as Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, previously led operations for the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). The FBI says he was in charge of agents in Europe at the time Levinson disappeared, the FBI statement added.
Reza Amiri Moghadam, an official of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, is wanted for questioning based on his alleged involvement in the abduction, detention, and probable death of retired FBI Special Agent Robert A. Levinson: https://t.co/3jdNl5splA pic.twitter.com/WHvvTGo7kM — FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) July 15, 2025 It is extremely rare for a nation to publicly issue a 'wanted' notice targeting an ambassador of another country, particularly when relations between the involved nations are not openly hostile. Such an action is not only diplomatically provocative but also places both the ambassador and the host country in a deeply awkward position, potentially straining otherwise stable international ties.
In March 2025, the US Treasury Department sanctioned all three officials including Reza Amiri Moghadam.Pakistan Foreign Ministry is yet to make any concrete statement regarding Reza Amiri Moghadam even though Ministry's spokesperson Shafqat Khan has spoken very highly about the Iran's ambassador to Pakistan.Pakistan, which shares border with Iran, has a sizeable Shia even as it is majority Sunni state. Iran is a Shia state but holds influence over the sect's population in Pakistan. However, going by the Islamabad's reactions, it seems that authority in Pakistan does not want to be seen as hostile state in front of President Donald Trump. Thus the Reza Amiri Moghadam issue has become a catch-22 situation for Pakistan. The FBI believes that Iranian intelligence services not only carried out the abduction but also spread false information to escape responsibility.Taghi Daneshvar, who is known by several aliases, is another senior MOIS officer. He reportedly oversaw Mohammad Baseri, an MOIS officer who was sanctioned by the US earlier, during the time Levinson went missing.The third officer, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, was Iran's ambassador to Albania. He was expelled from the country in 2018 for actions deemed harmful to Albania's national security. The FBI says he tried to shift blame for Levinson's disappearance onto a terrorist group in Pakistan.The FBI is now offering a reward of up to 5 million US dollars for any information that could help locate Levinson or identify those responsible. The US State Department is offering a separate reward of up to 20 million US dollars for information that leads to Levinson's recovery.Levinson retired from the FBI in 1998. He was last seen on Kish Island in March 2007. While Iran has repeatedly denied involvement, US officials maintain that top Iranian intelligence officers planned the abduction and attempted to cover it up using disinformation.
Q1. Who is President of USA?A1. President of USA is Donald Trump.
Q2. Who is Reza Amiri Moghadam - wanted by FBI? A2. Reza Amiri Moghadam, now serving as Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, previously led operations for the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS).
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Trump admin releases FBI files on MLK Jr despite his family's objections
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Trump admin releases FBI files on MLK Jr despite his family's objections

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She praised President Donald Trump for pushing the issue. Release is transparency' to some, a distraction' for others Trump promised as a candidate to release files related to President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination. When Trump took office in January, he signed an executive order to declassify the JFK records, along with those associated with Robert F. Kennedy's and King's 1968 assassinations. The government unsealed the JFK records in March and disclosed some RFK files in April. The announcement from Gabbard's office included a statement from Alveda King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, who is an outspoken conservative and has broken from King's children on various topics including the FBI files. Alveda King said she was grateful to President Trump for his transparency." Separately Monday, Attorney General Pam Bondi's social media account featured a picture of the attorney general with Alveda King in her office. Besides fulfilling Trump's executive order, the latest release serves as another alternative headline for the president as he tries to mollify supporters angry over his administration's handling of records concerning the sex trafficking investigation of Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself behind bars while awaiting trial in 2019, during Trump's first presidency. Trump last Friday ordered the Justice Department to release grand jury testimony but stopped short of unsealing the entire case file. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III did not mention Trump in their statement Monday. Some civil rights activists were not so sparing. Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice, said the Rev. Al Sharpton. It's a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base. 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The Kings said they support transparency and historical accountability but object to any attacks on our father's legacy or attempts to weaponize it to spread falsehoods. Opposition to King intensified even after the Civil Rights Movement compelled Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson to enact the Civil Right Act of 1964 and the Voting Right Act of 1965. After those landmark victories, King turned much of his attention to economic justice and international peace. He was an outspoken critic of rapacious capitalism and the Vietnam War. King argued that political rights alone were not enough in an uneven economy. Many establishment figures like Hoover viewed King as a communist threat. King's children still don't accept the original explanation of assassination King was assassinated as he was aiding striking sanitation workers in Memphis, part of his explicit turn toward economic justice. Ray plead guilty to assassinating King. 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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

FBI Ignored Key Evidence In Hillary Clinton Email Case: Declassified Files
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FBI Ignored Key Evidence In Hillary Clinton Email Case: Declassified Files

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Iran, European nations to hold first nuclear talks since Israel ceasefire

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