Middle East

U.S. Navy Vet Has Been Held in Iran Since July

WHY

Michael White reportedly held in prison for about six months on unspecified charges.

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Raheb Homavandi/TIMA/Reuters

An American Navy veteran has been held in prison in Iran for about six months on unspecified charges, The New York Times reports. Michael White, 46, from Imperial Beach, California, was seized while visiting an Iranian girlfriend in late July, according to the report. White’s mother, Joanne White, told the Times that her son was supposed to fly from Iran to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on July 27 as part of his return trip back to the U.S, but he never boarded his flight. She said she filed a missing-person report and the State Department and Department of Homeland Security had been in touch. State Dept. officials told her three weeks ago that he was in an Iranian prison, she said. “All I know is that he is alive and they were putting in a request for a consular visit by the Swiss,” she said.

Read it at New York Times