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Saying his family is desperate, Bob Levinsons son begged Congress to do anything, do something to bring home the Coral Springs man missing in Iran for more than 10 years.

Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent and CIA spy, is the longest-held civilian hostage in U.S. history.

His son, Doug, was only 13 when his father was taken hostage. He sent him an email in the days that followed: Everyone is looking for you. Please come back home. Please respond back. Im so scared.

Now 23, Doug Levinson wore a pair of his fathers still-too-big shoes at a House Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

His father had two jobs: taking care of his wife and seven children and protecting the U.S. by putting away the bad guys, Doug Levinson testified.

His voice rose when he said each administration has failed his family as other hostages in Iran have been freed.

We need action, Doug Levinson urged. Please be relentless in pursuing all options. Please do not let Iran off the hook. Theyve been allowed to do whatever they want because there are no consequences.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, said Congress would continue to ask questions about what our government is doing to bring your family members back home.

Levinsons family met with State Department officials last week, according to The Associated Press.

The White House is threatening new and serious consequences for Iran unless it releases all U.S. citizens who are detained there.

The White House says President Donald Trump is prepared to act in an attempt to end Iran's practice of using detentions and hostage taking as state policy.

Doug Levinson said his family is optimistic and that Trump has used the strongest language theyve heard from three presidents.

As a candidate in 2015, Trump vowed to bring Levinson home, and the Levinson family has asked to meet with him in hopes he will take a more aggressive stance toward getting answers than President Barack Obama did.

Iran has made it a practice to take American citizens and legal permanent residents as hostages in an effort to exact political and financial concessions, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement before the hearing.

Iran denies holding Levinson, who disappeared in 2007. His family, who has gone to Iran twice to look for him, hasn't received evidence he's still alive for years. The U.S. government is at a loss how to find him.

Iran has flip-flopped from asking What he was doing there to denying he was ever there at all, said Doug Levinson.

Bob Levinson was a contractor for the CIA who flew to Irans resort island to meet with an American fugitive he hoped to cultivate as an informant.

Initially, the U.S. publicly insisted Levinson went to Iran as a private investigator working a cigarette smuggling case. Eventually it led to a scandal within the CIA in which three agency officials lost their jobs for using him as part of an unauthorized spying operation. The agency paid $2.25 million to Levinsons wife.

She sat behind her son Doug at Tuesdays hearing, next to another son, Dan.

Josh Lederman, Associated Press

Relatives of two other men held in Iran also spoke at the hearing.

In October, Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for collaborating with a foreign government.

Five other defendants were convicted and given similar sentences, including Namazis father, Baquer, who is also a dual citizen.

The prosecutor also named Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese information technology expert who holds a green card granting him residence in the United States, and said each of the men had been imprisoned for espionage and collaboration with the American government.

Rep. Ted Deutch, D-West Boca, told the families not one of us can imagine what they are going through.

Iran knows how to find [Levinson] and they know how to get him home, Deutch said. We will not stop until the families are home.

Ros-Lehtinen said others have been detained, including one earlier this month for unknown reasons. And she said Tuesday that Iran will do it again, saying Iran does not respect human rights or law.

She called for intense and concerted effort because this is a problem that is not going away on it's own.

The House voted 419-3 to impose new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea.

On Wednesday, the House will consider a resolution calling for the release of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents being held for political purposes by Iran. The resolution also encourages the President to take meaningful action to secure the return of Robert Levinson if the Government of Iran does not locate and return him.

Doug Levinson had one more message for his father: Dad, were never going to stop fighting to get you home. Were doing everything we possibly can every single day. ... Please stay strong. Were going to get you home.

lhuriash@sunsentinel.com, 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash

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Son of Coral Springs spy held in Iran to testify Tuesday - Sun Sentinel - Sun Sentinel