OFAC Sanctions Iranian Officials for Abduction of Retired FBI Agent
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two senior Iranian intelligence officials involved in the 2007 abduction of a U.S. law enforcement agent, OFAC said Dec. 14. The sanctions target Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, officials at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, for the abduction of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent at the time who was working as a private investigator.
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While it is “unlikely” that either Iranian official has a U.S. bank account, OFAC’s designations may have “secondary sanctions” implications, a senior government official said on a Dec. 14 call with reporters. Those sanctions may impact “any of their external dealings outside of Iran” and is “just one part of a pressure campaign” against Iran. Other senior U.S. government officials on the call said any future negotiations with Iran, including those under the incoming Joe Biden administration about Iran's nuclear programs, should include hostage provisions. “We all expect a negotiation next year,” one official said. “That negotiation must include the return home of all the Americans unjustly detained in that country.”