(JTA) — The family of Robert Levinson, a Jewish-American who disappeared from Iran in 2007, held a rally calling on the United States and Iran to work together for his release.
Some 200 people attending the rally Saturday in Coral Springs, Florida, where Levinson lives, pinned yellow ribbons to their clothing and held signs with the hashtag reading #WhatAboutBob. The ribbons were reminiscent of the Iran hostage crisis in the late 1970s and early ’80s, when dozens of Americans were held captive in Iran.
Members of the Levinson family, representatives of the FBI and politicians spoke at the rally, the Sun Sentinel newspaper reported.
Wednesday will mark nine years since Levinson, a private detective and former FBI agent, went missing from Iran’s Kish Island during what has since been revealed as a rogue CIA operation.
At the rally, glass jars were filled with 3,288 hand-painted yellow rocks, each representing one day that Levinson, 68, has been held hostage.
The Obama administration said in January that Iran will “deepen its coordination” with the United States in efforts to find Levinson and return him to his family. Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a nonbinding resolution urging Iran to fulfill its pledge to help find Levinson.
