Ninth Anniversary Of Bob Levinson's Disappearance

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The family of a Coral Springs resident and former FBI agent who went missing in Iran have called on the U.S. government to do more to return him safely to them.

Wednesday, March 9th, marked the nine year anniversary of Bob Levinson's disappearance. Levinson vanished the day before his birthday in 2007 while working for the CIA; he was last seen on a small Iranian island.

To mark the anniversary his wife, Christine, issued the following statement.

"A few days ago, hundreds of people from around the country came together with our family in Florida to demand "Where is Bob Levinson?" and ask how it is possible that, 9 years after being taken hostage in Iran, this wonderful man is still not home. My children and I ask those same questions every day.

These past 9 years - 3, 288 days - have been harder for our family than anyone could ever imagine. But, as difficult as it has been for us, we know that Bob is living a nightmare that is 100 times worse. We need the United States government and the country of Iran to work together to resolve what happened to Bob and return him safely to his family."

Florida Senator Bill Nelson echoed that sentiment on Twitter.

Today marks nine years since Bob Levinson went missing in Iran; it's time for Iran to finally fulfill its promises to help us bring Bob home

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) March 9, 2016

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Nelson also spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday morning about Levinson's disappearance.

Nelson cited a recent New York Times report about a meeting that took place in 2011 at the Iranian embassy in Paris in which the Iranian Ambassador told a group of private citizens that Iran did in fact have Bob Levinson.

Nelson said he called "one of the people that was associated with this article" who confirmed that not only was the information published in the New York Times' report true, but that the FBI had also met with representatives of the Iranian Embassy in Paris.

Nelson said he then called Sean Joyce, the former deputy director of the FBI who had spearheaded the agency's efforts to find Bob Levinson, to ask about the 2011 meeting but Joyce told Nelson he knew nothing about it.

"If an investigative reporter has found this … [and] the top guy in the FBI who is spearheading the efforts to try to get Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent, doesn't know about it, what does this suggest?," Nelson said Wednesday. "It suggests there's a huge disconnect in the FBI which leads this senator, who has been on this case for nine years on behalf of a grieving wife and seven children, to wonder: what in the world is going on?"

Republican presidential hopeful and Florida Senator Marco Rubio also released a statement on the matter Wednesday saying in part,

"I have followed his case closely and believe that more needs to be done by the Obama Administration to pressure the Iranian government to provide information regarding Bob's whereabouts...It is outrageous that the Iranian government has failed to provide any information that would help bring Bob home to Florida. Iran is a police state. Very little happens on Iranian territory that the authorities are not aware of."

Levinson was not among the group of five Americans released in Iran last January month, which prompted his family to push for more information.

Related: Family Of Man Missing In Iran Speak Out After Prisoners' Release

The White House says they are committed to bringing Levinson home and even made it part of the nuclear deal with Iran.

The last proof of life the family received was a video of Levinson in captivity. His family says the they have no reason not to believe he is alive.