Two Americans imprisoned in Iran and Lebanon were released Thursday, US officials said, and one was a Navy veteran granted medical furlough as Iran struggles to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Michael White, imprisoned more than a year ago for insulting Iran's supreme leader, was released to the Swiss Embassy as part of a furlough that will require him to remain in Iran.
The US will work for his full release, Pompeo said.
The other American was Amer Fakhoury, a New Hampshire restaurant owner who had faced decades-old murder and torture charges in Lebanon that he denies. He was ordered released by a judge because more than 10 years had passed since the crimes he was accused of committing.
Officials including President Donald Trump used the occasion to name additional Americans they would like to see released, including journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012.
“I want to let everyone know that recovering Americans held captive and imprisoned abroad continues to be a top priority for my administration," Trump said at a news conference.
White's release, though temporary for the moment, came as Iran has furloughed tens of thousands of prisoners while struggling with a coronavirus that Iranian officials fear could kill millions.
White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained in Iran in July 2018. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting Iran's supreme leader and posting private information; the State Department said he was serving a 13-year sentence.
Fakhoury was on his way back to the US after a judge in Lebanon ordered him released. Fakhoury had been accused of torturing prisoners at the Khiam prison run by an Israeli-backed militia in southern Lebanon two-decades ago. He had been imprisoned since September after returning to Lebanon to visit family.
“Anytime a US citizen is wrongfully detained by a foreign government, we must use every tool at our disposal to free them,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, who had worked for his release.“I’m very glad that Amer is finally coming home and will be reunited with his family. No family should have to go through what the Fakhoury family has gone through."
His oldest daughter, Guila Fakhoury, told the AP by phone, “We are so happy. It's a dream."
Fakhoury was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma and had been hospitalized in Lebanon. Trump said Fakhoury “will now be able to receive the much needed care and treatment in the United States."
“We’ve been working very hard to get him freed, and he’s finally able to have his entire family at his side,” Trump said.
Fakhoury was ordered to be released Monday because more than 10 years had passed since he tortured prisoners at the Khiam prison. But he was not immediately allowed to leave the country after a Lebanese military judge on Tuesday appealed the decision, asking a military tribunal to strike down the decision to free Fakhoury.
Hours before Shaheen announced Fakhoury's release, a US Marine Osprey was seen taking off from the US Embassy compound in Awkar near Beirut. He was being returned to the US in a State Department medical plane, said Assistant Secretary David Schenker.
Fakhoury became a US citizen last year.
