Detained US Navy veteran freed by Iran

A U.S. Navy veteran left Iran on Thursday after nearly two years of detention, winning his freedom as part of a deal that spared an American-Iranian physician any more time behind American bars. Michael White flew from Tehran to Zurich, where he was met by diplomat Brian Hook, the U.S. special envoy for Iran. White’s mother said “the nightmare is over” now that her son was out of Iranian hands. In Atlanta, a federal judge approved a sentencing agreement for Florida dermatologist Matteo Taerri, who had been charged with violating U.S. sanctions on Iran as well as banking laws.

The developments capped months of quiet negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2018 while visiting a woman he had met online and fallen in love with. He was convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting private information online, and was sentenced to a decade in prison. As White flew to Switzerland, U.S. prosecutors completed the American part of the arrangement by asking a judge to sentence Taerri to time served on his conviction stemming from the 2018 charges.

Taerri was charged with attempting to export a filter to Iran that he said was for vaccine research but that U.S. authorities said required a license because it could be used for chemical and biological warfare purposes. He pleaded guilty late last year and has already served months behind bars. The Justice Department in March withdrew its request to have him detained, citing what it said were significant foreign policy interests. White was released from prison on a medical furlough in March as Iran struggled to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, and turned over to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran.