An Iranian-American doctor has returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported on Monday after an exchange deal between Tehran and Washington that led to the release of a US Navy veteran detained in Iran.
As a result of a slight warming of hostility between the US and Iran, the United States allowed Majid Taheri to go to Iran as part of a prisoner exchange deal. Michael White, an American who said he had contracted a coronavirus while in custody in Iran, was released last week.
“The Iranian government has made extraordinary efforts to help people like me, who for some reason have been accused of violating US sanctions,” Taheri told state television after arriving at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport, where he was met by Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi-Ansari.
He said he was punished by the United States for sending materials to Iran to help a research team that made vaccines.