US Courts Order Iran to Pay $1.4B Over Ex-FBI Agent Presumed Dead

Manuel Balce Ceneta via The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manuel Balce Ceneta via The ASSOCIATED PRESS
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US Courts Order Iran to Pay $1.4B Over Ex-FBI Agent Presumed Dead

Manuel Balce Ceneta via The ASSOCIATED PRESS
Manuel Balce Ceneta via The ASSOCIATED PRESS

A US judge has ordered Iran to pay $1.45 billion to the family of a former FBI agent believed to have been kidnapped while on an unauthorized CIA mission to an Iranian island in 2007.

The judgment this month comes after Robert Levinson's family and the US government now believe he died in the Iranian government's custody, which is long denied by Tehran, though officials over time have offered contradictory accounts about what happened to him on Kish Island.

Tensions remain high between the US and Iran amid President Donald Trump's pressure campaign over Tehran's nuclear program. And though the US and Iran haven't had diplomatic relations since the aftermath of the 1979 US Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran, Washington stills holds billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets that could be used to pay Levinson's family.

In a ruling dated Thursday, the US District Court in Washington found Iran owed Levinson's family $1.35 billion in punitive damages and $107 million in compensatory damages for his kidnapping.

The court cited the case of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died in 2017 shortly after being freed from captivity in North Korea, in deciding to award the massive amount of punitive damages to Levinson's family, The Associated Press reported.

“Iran’s conduct here is also unique, given that — astonishingly — it plucked a former FBI and DEA special agent from the face of the earth without warning, tortured him, held him captive for as long as 13 years, and to this day refuses to admit its responsibility,” the ruling by Judge Timothy J. Kelly said.

“And his wife and children, and their spouses and children — while keeping Levinson’s memory alive — have had to proceed with their lives without knowing his exact fate. These are surely acts worthy of the gravest condemnation,” the judge added.

Iranian state media and officials in Tehran did not immediately acknowledge the ruling in a case in which Iran offered no defense. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday from The Associated Press.

In a statement, Levinson's family called the court's award “the first step in the pursuit of justice.”

“Until now, Iran has faced no consequences for its actions,” the family said. “Judge Kelly’s decision won’t bring Bob home, but we hope that it will serve as a warning against further hostage taking by Iran.”

Levinson disappeared from Iran’s Kish Island on March 9, 2007. For years, US officials would only say that Levinson, a meticulous FBI investigator credited with busting Russian and Italian mobsters, was working for a private firm on his trip.

In December 2013, the AP revealed Levinson in fact had been on a mission for CIA analysts who had no authority to run spy operations.

Levinson’s family had received a $2.5 million annuity from the CIA in order to stop a lawsuit revealing details of his work, while the agency forced out three veteran analysts and disciplined seven others.



North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Condemns Warship Accident as 'Criminal'

A satellite image shows the new North Korean warship at harbor before launch, in Chongjin, North Korea, May 18, 2025. Maxar Technologies /Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the new North Korean warship at harbor before launch, in Chongjin, North Korea, May 18, 2025. Maxar Technologies /Handout via REUTERS
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North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Condemns Warship Accident as 'Criminal'

A satellite image shows the new North Korean warship at harbor before launch, in Chongjin, North Korea, May 18, 2025. Maxar Technologies /Handout via REUTERS
A satellite image shows the new North Korean warship at harbor before launch, in Chongjin, North Korea, May 18, 2025. Maxar Technologies /Handout via REUTERS

A serious accident occurred on Wednesday during the launch of a new North Korean warship while Kim Jong Un was attending the event, with the isolated state's leader calling it a "criminal act" that could not be tolerated, state media KCNA reported.

Kim, who witnessed the failed launch of the 5,000-ton destroyer, excoriated the accident as caused by "carelessness" that tarnished the country's dignity, and ordered the ship to be restored before a key ruling party meeting in June, KCNA said on Thursday.

The report did not mention whether there were any casualties, said AFP.

KCNA said the incident at the northeastern port of Chongjin was caused by a loss of balance while the vessel was being launched and it said sections of the bottom of the warship were crushed, but it did not give more details of damage sustained.

"Kim Jong Un made stern assessment saying that it was a serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism which is out of the bounds of possibility and could not be tolerated," KCNA reported.

Kim said the accident "brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse", adding an immediate restoration of the destroyer was "not merely a practical issue but a political issue directly related to the authority of the state."

South Korea's military said the stricken warship was lying sideways in the water after the failed launch.

The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States had been monitoring the activities in advance, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told a briefing.

Later on Thursday, South Korea's military said the North fired multiple cruise missiles around the time its state media reported the failure of the warship launch from an area south of the port. It did not provide further details on the missiles.

The rare public disclosure of an accident follows a report of the launch of another destroyer of a similar size in April, also attended by Kim, at the west coast shipyard of Nampho.

North Korea has previously experienced accidents such as space launch vehicle failures and civilian disasters that have subsequently been used to promote the role of the leadership and the ruling Workers' Party in correcting the problems.

The 5,000-ton destroyers launched by North Korea this year are the country's largest warships yet, part of leader Kim's push to upgrade its naval power by adding vessels capable of carrying and launching dozens of missiles to its fleet.

In a report last week on preparations for the latest launch, US-based 38 North said it appeared the ship would be side-launched from the quay.

Such a method has not been previously observed in launching warships in North Korea, according to military analysts.

"The use of this launch method could be one of necessity, as the quay where the ship is being built does not have an incline" to move the vessel stern first into the water, the 38 North report said.

Commercial satellite imagery of the shipyard the day before the launch showed the destroyer positioned on the quay with support vessels by its side and its missile tube magazines exposed.

A North Korea expert based in Seoul said Pyongyang's disclosure was surprisingly swift.

"It shows again Kim Jong Un's ruling style of cutting off negative rumors from spreading and controlling officials more forcefully by being open about it rather than hiding it," said Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute.