Posted on 01/17/2016 4:48:16 AM PST by Dave346
As the families of Americans celebrate the release of their loved ones held in Iran, the authorities in Tehran said they would not be freeing a businessman arrested in October and were silent on the fate of a former FBI agent who disappeared in the country.
It was unclear why Siamak Namazi, 44, an Iranian American based in Dubai, was arrested in October while visiting a friend in Tehran where he had done consultant work over the previous decade.
U.S. officials said Saturday that they would continue to talk with Iran to secure the release of Namazi as well as to obtain information about the whereabouts of Robert Levinson, 67, who went missing on an Iranian island in March 2007.
News that Levinson had not been freed left his family distraught.
“Of course we are happy for those families, but angry and devastated,†Suzanne Halpin, the sister of Levinson’s wife, said in an email.
The Levinsons have hoped for years that their father would eventually be released after a deal was reached to limit the Iranian nuclear program.
The family thought the United States had “squandered its best opportunity for leverage in ensuring my father’s safe return home,†Levinson’s son, Daniel, wrote late last year in The Washington Post, after Iran and six world powers struck a nuclear deal.
It was an ominous sign that he wasn’t released with other the Americans, officials said.
“They were given every opportunity to save face,†a U.S. intelligence official said Saturday. “We are still not giving up.â€
The Iranians have never acknowledged holding Levinson, and some former and current U.S. intelligence officials fear that he might be dead.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Based on what I’ve read of Levinson...I think he just walked into the middle of some Iranian mafia-types....rather than government people.
I suspect it doesn’t help that Levinson is Jewish too.
You may have something to think about. I’ve been wondering, too, how much tech loot was taken from those 2 boats.
Don’t you think it was more related to the $150 billion? And, here is a Tom Clancy thought: what if there were some thing or some one in one of those boats? Something to be “delivered” to the Ayatollahs. I am not talking about the tech. I am suggesting that something was put on those boats for “delivery.”
Could very well be.
What I’d like to know are who are the seven Iranians we handed over in this “swap”? So far, no word on them.
That’s definitely something to ponder could it be weapons, or some high level Iranian that we might have held for long time that no one knew about or lots of more money? But I think you’re on to something.
Here’s a double whammy what if the supposed delivery, that we’re thinking that could have possibly have taken place was something to undermine Israel, I mean we know how much the Obama administration really hates Israel, and BIBI it could possibly be use to put heavy pressure on Israel, to return to 1967 borders wild theory but with this President anything is possible.
Note that most of these criminals were not just “violating sanctions”, they were actively helping Iran technologically.
Too complicated. Too visible. Too many people involved. If you want to deliver something to the Iranians, put it in a boat, and have an Iranian drive it to Iran in the middle of the night. Or drive it out to international waters and pass it to an Iranian boat.
Good point. I a just thinking out loud. I am sure our people make plenty of mistakes, but this just seemed too stupid. Our people are not stupid. The skipper was a Naval Academy guy. Generally, they are not stupid.
The simplest answer is the best one....and that is they were there dropping off or picking up. Or, at Travis said, the whole thing is a lie.
They were NOT dropping off, or picking up. These were just ten random sailors assigned to the bottom-rung of USN boats, the Riverine Squadron. They were created to replace the USCG who had been doing duty watching river inlets and ports in our areas of interest in the Persian Gulf.
It’s SWCC that supports the SEALs, not RS. That’s why there was even a lady sailor on board. Just pick ten random sailors off a ship, put them on boats, that is RS.
SWCC is part of NavSpecWar, they support the SEALs. These RS guys were just on a routine transit/redeployment between Kuwait and Bahrain. Those boats have a crew of five, and that is what was on each boat: the normal crew, no troops, no spooks, no SEALs.
Even if they were dropping off some spooks or SEALs (NOT their mission, NOT their training) they would have had more than five on the boats. Even when SWCC is tasked to insert SEALs, some SEALs are still on the boat for comms and other support.
This theory would have a tiny air of plausibility if they had had more than five crew on the boats. They didn’t. They even had their PASSPORTS with them, because they were on a routine inter-national redeployment. On “cover ops,” you do NOT bring your fracking PASSPORTS!!!
Who got the better deal in the Iranian Hostage swap?
It seems the Administration is interested in just making any deal regardless of whether it is a bad deal. These deals seem to be made by weak negotiators.
Thank you. You’re right, these were not just any old commercial violations.
It gets more conspiratorial, but I actually think your explanation might make a tech-or-material transfer more plausible.
Consider this: put 10 random sailors on these boats and some CIA guy puts ‘something’ on the boat... but doesn’t inform any of the crew and doesn’t get on board himself. Anybody do an inventory check before and after? Doubt it... not looking for something unusual.
I’ve been wondering for a couple of days why boats would - “on their own” - take a ‘shortcut’. That doesn’t exactly sound like protocol to me. Best explanation I have is that they were (perhaps unwittingly except for the pilot) playing a game of FexEx for a pkg to Iran.
I probably wouldn’t have even considered this... except for this particular administration being involved.
Put yourself in their places...after so many years of heartbreak and psychological torture, they were just about to grab the gold ring only to have it snatched away from them at the last moment.
There's some reason that Obama didn't lay down the law (i.e., sanctions and withholding the billion$) to include ALL the American hostages in the swap. What satanic reason did he have??? This putrific alien creature in the White House always has an inner reason for EVERYTHING, believe me.
God bless these devastated families.....and pray for sanity to return to the highest echelons of our debased, perverted thugocracy as soon as possible.
Leni
Obama’s only core values are exemplified by Islam and what is PERPETRATED in it’s name.
If they wanted to deliver something they’d just fly it in. Kerry could come along for the ride, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.