Prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran, Tehran frees a naval veteran

Free after almost 700 days Michael White, detained in 2018 while going to Mashhad to visit his Iranian partner. Sentenced to 10 years for insulting the supreme leader. Washington authorizes the return to Iran of the scientist Sirous Asgari, arrested for espionage. Confirmation of the release of the doctor Majid Taheri is awaited.

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - After nearly 700 days in prison, Iran has released a US Navy veteran, arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for unspecified crimes. Michael White was stopped while traveling to the city of Mashhad to meet his Iranian partner; according to some sources, he insulted the supreme guide Ali Khamenei and spread his personal photos on social media.

The authorities last March ordered the release for humanitarian issues, entrusting him to the Swiss embassy representing American interests in Iran.

The release took place in conjunction with the return to the Islamic Republic of a scientist from Tehran, Sirous Asgari, who has been jailed in the United States for three years on charges of espionage. The confirmation of the release of a second Iranian prisoner, doctor Majid Taheri, announced yesterday by the Foreign Ministry of Tehran, is also awaited in these hours.

The release represents a rare example of collaboration between the United States and Iran, although Washington wanted to specify that it was not a prisoner exchange.

The 48-year-old former Navy soldier is one of six US citizens imprisoned in Iran or released on bail, but still in the country. White benefited last March from a general amnesty ordered by the supreme leader to empty prisons during the early stages of the new coronavirus pandemic.

There have been repeated appeals to the White House to ease the policy of head-on confrontation with sanctions against Iran, which also end up causing blockages and restrictions in sending medicines and basic necessities to fight Covid-19.  

In a rare example of collaboration, in December the two countries reached an agreement aimed at the exchange of prisoners that concerned the Chinese-born American researcher Xiyue Wang and the Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani.