US President Donald J. Trump on Friday thanked the Iranian authorities for the release of former US Navy personnel Michael White who has been in custody in Iran for two years.
On his official Twitter account, Trump re-posted clips showing White upon his return home, saying: "It is great that White is in his home country. White arrived a while ago, which is very exciting.
Trump addressed the Iranian government as saying: "Thank you, Iran. Do not wait for the US presidential elections to conclude a grand bargain. I will win and it is better to make a big deal now.
White has been detained by Iran authorities since July 2018 during a visit to meet a woman who had communicated with her over the Internet and had romantic relations with her.
He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on charges related to insulting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and publishing classified information about Iran on the Internet.
White was released as a part of an exchange deal that also included acquitting an Iranian scholar and academic named Cyrus Asgari, who recently returned to his homeland after the US authorities released him.
Sources quoted US officials as confirming that White took a plane belonging to the Swiss government, while Special Envoy for Iran in the administration of President Donald Trump, Brian Hook, accompanied a doctor to the city of Zurich to meet the released.
White was scheduled to return from Zurich to the United States on a US plane.
White's mother confirmed that her son was on the way back to his homeland, and said: "The nightmare is over."
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