U.S. officials said on Thursday that a naval veteran was released after nearly two years in detention in Iran, adding that he is en route to the United States now on a Swiss government plane.
The officials added that the U.S. special envoy to Iran flew to Zurich with a doctor to meet the freed detainee, Michael White, and they would accompany him to the United States.
[caption id="attachment_130387" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
U.S. Naval Veteran Michael White with his mother[/caption]
White's release comes as part of an agreement that includes an Iranian-American doctor on trial by the Justice Department, and after months of quiet negotiations over the prisoners.
"I am pleased to announce that the nightmare is over and that my son is safe in an American custody and on his way back home," White's mother, Joanna White, said in a statement.
The State Department thanked Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of New Mexico, for raising White’s story with the Iranians.
In this regard, the U.S. President, Donald Trump, expressed his happiness for White’s release, adding that “I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! Thank you Switzerland for your great assistance.”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1268564689069527042
The Trump administration, which has been pushing a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes sweeping sanctions, in the past has resented initiatives by Richardson, a former Democratic governor and presidential candidate.
The Iranian authorities arrested the naval veteran, from the Imperial Beach area of California, in July during a visit to a woman he had communicated with on the Internet and fell in love with. He was convicted of insulting the Iranian Supreme Leader, publishing private information on the Internet, and was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Despite widespread speculation, White's release was not linked to the deportation of Iranian scientist Sirius Asgari to Iran this week, according to the Associated Press.
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