Iran issues verdict against US navy veteran facing ‘security charges’, but doesn’t say what it is
- American Michael White, who was said to getting treatment for cancer, was detained last July in Iran
Iran’s judiciary has delivered a verdict against US Navy veteran Michael White who was detained last July in Iran but there is no information as to what the ruling contained, a semi-official news agency reported Monday.
A prosecutor in the northeastern city of Mashdad, Gholamali Sadeghi, was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency that the “verdict has been issued” against White and he faced unspecified security charges.
Sadeghi’s remarks counter a February statement by the Iranian foreign ministry, which said White faced no security or espionage charges.
The report came as Iran’s new hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi took office.
White, who has been held in Mashhad, is the first American known to be detained since Donald Trump became president. Trump has pursued a maximalist campaign against Tehran that includes America’s withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
White’s family says he travelled to Iran to visit his girlfriend – the two met online – and was arbitrarily detained. Joanne White, the detainee’s mother, said in January that he was undergoing cancer treatment and she feared he would not survive prolonged detention.