Iran demanded Florida doctor in exchange for Michael White
Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson says the Iranians conditioned White's freedom on Majid Taheri's release.
In what the Donald Trump administration has avoided framing as a prisoner swap but came the same day an Iranian-American doctor was released in the United States, Navy veteran Michael White was freed from Iranian custody Thursday. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who played a key role in the negotiations, says the timing was no coincidence.
“It may not necessarily be a prisoner swap per se, but it’s a joint humanitarian effort on both sides that is not concurrent,” Richardson told Al-Monitor. “It shows hopefully the possibility of more joint releases like this.”
White had been jailed in Iran since July 2018 after posting a photo of himself on social media and being convicted of insulting Iran’s supreme leader. In March, the 48-year-old cancer survivor contracted the novel coronavirus in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.
Amid concerns over a wider outbreak in its detention facilities, the Iranian government released White on temporary medical furlough, and he’s since remained in the custody of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
