Michael White expelled due to disease exacerbation, human rights considerations: Iranian official

MNA – Director General of Counterintelligence of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence said on Saturday that the US citizen, Michael White, who had been imprisoned on security charges in Iran, has been deported to the US due to disease exacerbation, human rights reasons.

The Iranian official explained that White was an American military person who had entered Iran two years ago under the cover of a tourist and has sought to stay in the country under the same title but was arrested by the Iranian intelligence forces.

Making remarks about the US President’s expression of gratitude for Iran because of the return of White to the US, the Iranian intelligence official said: “After his mismanagement and failure in coping with the coronavirus and also in controlling the recent anti-racism protests in the US, Trump is now in a dire need for having the support of the American public opinion, therefore he seeks to ignore fundamental disagreements between Tehran and Washington and seize every occasion as a proper ground for holding optimum mutual talks with Iran in favor of his country.”

As he added, some of the US officials, including Brian Hook, planned to put forward White’s death due to a chronic disease in Iran as an anti-Iranian propaganda but by his release, all the scenarios have been foiled.

He also rejected the probability of any direct talks held between Iran and the US about the swap of the prisoners, underlining that Switzerland has acted as the mediator in this regard.

White was released on June 4, with Islamic kindness and based human rights considerations, and left Tehran to join his family soon. Since White had no one in Iran, he was handed over to the US interests section in the country, i.e. the Embassy of Switzerland.

Simultaneous with White’s release, Majid Taheri, an Iranian scientist who was imprisoned in the United States for false reasons, was released too.

Majid Taheri was sentenced to 16 months in prison for charges of circumventing unilateral anti-Iranian sanctions.

On June 3, another Iranian scientist Sirous Asgari who had been imprisoned in the United States has returned to the country.