"A day after the Associated Press dropped the bombshell news..."

"... that Robert Levinson, officially America’s longest-held hostage, was working for the CIA when he went missing in Iran in 2007, the reverberations were being felt across political and intelligence circles."

[O]ne by one, media organisations disclosed they had known about the story for years, but had acceded to government requests not to publish it....

Ali Alizadeh, a London-based seasoned Iranian analyst and commentator, said... “The admission that he was indeed working for the CIA somehow legitimises Iranian claims in recent years that Americans had been involved inside Iran and gives some credibility to Iran... This is why I believe it might open ways for his release if he is in fact still alive.”

... “Since the mid-90s, the agency has recognized that having analysts more involved in operational decisions and choices is a good thing, and enhances the finished product,” said Vicki Divoll, a former CIA lawyer. “However, if analysts get too far out in front, without the training necessary to successfully run operations, this could backfire. And a debacle such as this, if true, may set back internal agency co-operation 20 years."