Talks between Washington and Tehran have stopped since the US left the Iran deal, though, so it will be hard to decipher what Iran really wants in exchange for White’s return. Mr White's mother told US media her son has been missing in Iran since July. Iran sentences US navy veteran Michael White to 10 years in jail ... Michael White of California poses with his mother Joanne in an undated family photo.
The United Nations has condemned the prosecutions as unjust, and Trump has demanded that Iran release all US citizens in custody.Michael White, 46, was convicted of two charges – insulting the country’s top leader and posting a private photograph publicly – in separate hearings on 6 and 9 March, according to the lawyer, Mark Zaid.The Iranian regime has imprisoned several other US citizens in recent years, including father-and-son Baquer and Siamak Namazi and Xiyue Wang.
On Thursday, a State Department spokesperson told me that they were aware of reports of a US citizen detained in Iran, and that they considered the safety and security of US citizens abroad their highest priority.The US Navy veteran’s family says he’s been missing since July.Get our newsletter in your inbox twice a week.What is clear, though, is that Iran’s move could ratchet up tensions between Washington and Tehran.Iran, however, likely won’t succumb too easily. Joanne White told the New York Times he had gone to visit a girlfriend, and was due to return via Dubai on 27 July. After all, the US already has put significant pressure on the country, and experts say holding White allows Tehran to send a message: that the US and its European allies should stop their campaigns against it.It’s therefore possible that White will remain Iran’s prisoner for the foreseeable future.The Pentagon didn’t respond to a request for more information about White, but there are some limited details available about his background.It seems, now, that Iran has turned to an old method to extract new concessions from Trump in the form of sanctions relief, or to ease the pressure from the US’s European allies. The basis for the first charge is not clear. The Swiss represent US interests in Iran because the countries do not maintain diplomatic ties.Iranian authorities have not released details of the charges.All three were accused of espionage-related activities and have denied the allegations. The second charge appears to have been leveled after White uploaded a picture of himself sitting with the woman, an Iranian national, Zaid said.“It’s been very unclear,” he said.The state department did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.Since January, when Iran confirmed White’s arrest, he has not been permitted to contact his family, Zaid said.White, a California native, served 13 years in the US navy.His court-appointed lawyer for the two hearings did not speak English, Zaid said, adding that the family is working on hiring an Iranian lawyer to handle White’s appeal.The family and the state department are still trying to determine whether the charges are politically motivated or the result of a criminal prosecution, Zaid said.The family learned of the sentence earlier this week from the US state department, which in turn received the information from Swiss diplomats. We don’t know what happened next.
The US has asked its European friends to cut ties with Tehran and isolate it even further, though it’s not clear if the Netherlands openly lambasted Iran because the Trump administration encouraged it to, or because it is genuinely angry about the killings.But Phillip Smyth, an Iran expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told me it’s more likely Tehran arrested White to use him as leverage against the US and its European allies.The first American detained overseas during the Trump administration is being held in one of the president’s least favorite places: Iran.That will surely add some urgency to any American effort get him out of Iran. Michael White likely went to Iran to see a woman.
Michael White, a U.S. Navy veteran held in Iran for almost two years, was released by Iranian authorities on Thursday, according to a statement from his mother, Joanne White.