Iran releases U.S. Navy veteran held for two years

WASHINGTON - Iran on Thursday released Navy veteran Michael White, a California native who had contracted the novel coronavirus and had been held for nearly two years, said his family and a U.S. official.

White, a cancer patient who traveled to Iran to visit a woman he had met on the Internet, was arrested by Iranian authorities in July 2018.

Due to several complicating health conditions, White's family feared for his life in Iran's notoriously cramped and unsanitary prison system. Several weeks ago he was placed on medical furlough as the coronavirus outbreak spread rapidly through Iran's prisons, and U.S. and Swiss diplomats renewed efforts to secure his release.

"I am incredibly grateful to the administration, especially the team at the State Department for their work on Michael's case and I owe the Swiss Diplomats who have worked so hard to keep Michael safe a debt I can never repay," said White's mother, Joanne White.

President Donald Trump tweeted that White is on a Swiss plane "that just left Iranian Airspace" and that he expects him "to be home with his family in America very soon." The Swiss government has acted on behalf of the United States in Iran since the two nations severed diplomatic relations after the Islamic revolution.

White's release comes after an Iranian scientist, Sirous Asgari, who also contracted the coronavirus, was flown back to Iran on Tuesday, setting the stage for White's release despite the increasingly bitter relations between Tehran and Washington.

A senior U.S. administration official said that the two cases were not technically linked but that Iranian officials had suggested they would be more open to White's release after the scientist was back on Iranian soil.

The release ends a painful saga for White and his family, who had tirelessly lobbied for his freedom, saying that he did nothing wrong and that his health conditions threatened his life. White was charged for insulting the supreme leader and privacy violations related to the posting of a photo of himself on social media while in the country. He underwent treatment for throat cancer before leaving for Iran.

"For the past 683 days my son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare," Joanne White said, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home."

In the statement, she also thanked former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who repeatedly raised White's case with Iranian officials.

Richardson, a Democrat, was also involved in helping set up a prisoner swap in December in which the United States traded an Iranian scientist convicted on charges of violating trade sanctions for Xiyue Wang, a Princeton University graduate student accused of spying.

"This should have and could have been done earlier, but I am glad and relieved that Mike is on his way home to get treated and rejoin Joanne and his family," Richardson said in a statement.

Trump administration officials have downplayed Richardson's role in the negotiations.

White's release has been bittersweet for the family of Baquer and Siamak Namazi, a father and son who have been in Iranian custody for more than four years.

"It is extremely hard for my family to understand how a third prisoner swap or release has taken place which has not included my family and other American hostages unjustly held in Iran," said Babak Namazi, the son of Baquer. "My brother Siamak Namazi remains in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, despite Iran having furloughed 100,000 other prisoners due to COVID-19 pandemic."

Another dual U.S. and Iranian citizen, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, is also believed to be in Iranian custody on charges of collaborating with the United States.

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The Washington Post’s Carol Morello contributed to this report.