Image via NBC news
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Iran has released a captive U.S. Navy veteran, it was announced today.
Michael Pompeo, Secretary of State, sent the following statement in describing the release of the American:
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. 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. I thank the Swiss government and the work of our diplomats for facilitating this successful diplomacy.
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. 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.
According to NBS News, White “was detained in Iran in July 2018 after visiting a girlfriend there whom he had met online. White was sentenced to 13 years in prison after he was convicted of insulting the country’s top leader and displaying a private photo publicly.”
White was released and thanked President Trump for his release.
