A U.S. Navy veteran was released from an Iranian prison after being held for almost two years, the U.S. State Department announced Thursday.
Michael White, 48, a cancer survivor who contracted COVID-19 while being detained by the Islamic Republic, returned to the U.S. Friday morning.
Standing on the tarmac of Dulles International Airport in Virginia, White, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, told Fox News he was recovering.
“I want to extend my personal thanks to President Trump for his efforts both diplomatically and otherwise,” White said.
After contracting the Coronavirus, White was granted a medical furlough through the custody of Switzerland, who has acted as an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran.
“I was semi-free anyway, but this just happens to complete that process” White said.
White, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting Iran’s supreme leader, was the first American to be taken prisoner by the Middle Eastern country during the Trump administration, Fox reported. The U.S. began negotiating for White’s release in February.
President Donald Trump in a tweet on Thursday announced White’s travel back to the U.S. and thanked Switzerland for its involvement.
….I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! Thank you Switzerland for your great assistance.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020
U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Thursday applauded Iran for White’s release and vowed to free all American prisoners.
“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.”
Levinson, a former agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation disappeared in 2007 while on an unauthorized mission in Iran for the Central Intelligence Agency. The White House in March presumed he died in Iranian custody.
White’s release is the latest in Washington-Tehran prisoner negotiations, accelerated in recent months by the Coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Iran the hardest of any other Middle East country.
The U.S. recently released an Iranian-American doctor and an Iranian scientist, The New York Times reported.
In early May, Iran called on the U.S. to re-enter negotiations and conduct a prisoner swap with no preconditions, Reuters reported.
Author: Jared Morgan
Jared is the senior editor and web team lead for the Department of California and chair of its Media & Communications Commission. He became a member of the American Legion in 2014 when he joined Palisades Post 283 to find stories about veterans issues for a local newspaper while working as its news editor. He was soon brought in as 283's assistant adjutant and historian to help produce the post's award-winning community newspaper. Since then, Jared has used his media skills to help further the efforts of The American Legion in its advocacy of veterans and their families. Jared has also worked for several years to help revitalize the 100-year-old Santa Monica Post 123, formerly as its adjutant and as a member of its executive board, before transferring back to Post 283.
