TEL AVIV, Israel — Secretary of State John Kerry says the United States will continue to seek the release of an American citizen missing in Iran.

But at a news conference in Tel Aviv, he sidestepped questions about an Associated Press report saying the missing American, Robert Levinson, had been working in Iran for the CIA on an unapproved intelligence-gathering mission when he vanished nearly seven years ago.

Kerry says, quote, “I don’t have any comment whatsoever on the condition with respect to employment or any other issue.” He says, “We have raised the issue of his whereabouts on a continuing basis.”

The AP reported the CIA paid Levinson’s family $2.5 million to head off a revealing lawsuit. It said three veteran analysts were forced out of the agency and seven others were disciplined.


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