We are bringing another American home. Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran who has been wrongfully jailed in Iran for nearly two years, has been released by Iranian authorities.
He is now on his way back to the United States, where we look forward to reuniting him with his family. I commend U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook for negotiating Mr. White’s release with the Iranians., according to a news release from the State Department.
The AP also reported that White is recovering from COVID-19 and had been released from prison on a medical furlough and handed over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
White was initially detained in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online. During that visit, he was convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting on social media, according to Franks. White was sentenced to a decade in prison.
I thank the Swiss government and the work of our diplomats for facilitating this successful diplomacy., said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
I am to happy announce that Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace. We expect him to be home with his family in America very soon….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
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Pompeo released a statement saying, “While we are pleased that Iran was constructive in this matter, there is more work to do.”
The United States will not rest until we bring every American detained in Iran and around the world back home to their loved ones., Pompeo said.
The United States continues to call for the release of U.S. citizens Baquer Namazi, Siamak Namazi, and Morad Tahbaz, who have been wrongfully detained in Iran for far too long, and to provide a full accounting of the fate of Robert Levinson., Pompeo said.
