A U.S. Navy veteran who said he contracted the coronavirus while detained in Iran since 2018 was freed on Thursday as part of a deal in which the United States allowed an Iranian-American physician to visit Iran, his lawyer and a U.S. official said.
Michael White, a freed U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018, poses with U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook while on his return to the United States at Zurich Airport in Zurich, Switzerland June 4, 2020. U.S. State Department/Handout via REUTERS
The two nations are at odds on a host of issues including the U.S. decision to abandon a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program and impose crippling economic sanctions on Tehran, as well as their jockeying for influence across the Middle East. “I feel all right, and happy to be back,” White said, thanking President Donald Trump “for his efforts both diplomatically and otherwise, making America great again.” He also thanked the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
The negotiations to get White released followed several months of discussions with Iran, said a person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S.-Iranian relations have been bitter since the Islamic Revolution toppled the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran in 1979 and Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Michael White, a freed U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018, poses with U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook while on his return to the United States at Zurich Airport in Zurich, Switzerland June 4, 2020. U.S. State Department/Handout via REUTERS
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