David Belfield's (Dawud Salahuddin) & FBI Agent Robert Levinson

From the FT (Via Laura Rosen) comes

"There is another theory for Mr Levinson's journey to Kish – a possible media
connection. In 2002, Ira Silverman, a former NBC chief investigative producer, went to Tehran to meet Mr Salahuddin and wrote about him in the New Yorker magazine. He noted that his capture "would be a triumph for law enforcement", but also argued that "from an intelligence perspective" he would be "more useful left in place" because of his access to the inner circles in Iran.

Mr Silverman was also a friend of Mr Levinson and Mr Shoffler (see more here) .Acquaintances believe he introduced Mr Lev­in­son to the fugitive with a documen­tary in mind. Mr Silverman declined to be interviewed for this
article.

A US official, who asked not to be named, said US authorities also suspected
that Mr Levinson was on a media mission. He did not name Mr Silverman."