A US Navy veteran has been imprisoned in Iran for months, The New York Times reports
 

A US Navy veteran has been imprisoned in Iran for months, The New York Times reports
By: CNN - Posted: 8:06 AM, Jan 08, 2019
RE: https://www.theindychannel.com/news/...-times-reports

A US Navy veteran has been held in an Iranian prison on unspecified charges since July, his mother told The New York Times on Monday.

Michael R. White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained in Iran while visiting his Iranian girlfriend, the mother, Joanne White, told The Times.

The mother filed a missing-person report after her son failed to return as planned in late July, and State Department officials told her three weeks ago that he was in an Iranian prison, she told The Times.

A duty officer reached at the US State Department early Tuesday said the department's media team could not comment on the report due to the ongoing partial government shutdown.

CNN also has sought comment from the governments of Iran and Switzerland, which represents the United States' diplomatic interests in Iran.

Tensions between Iran and the US have increased after the US withdrew from a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic in May and reinstated sanctions against it.

Family says US Navy veteran has been held for months in Iranian prison
 

Family says US Navy veteran has been held for months in Iranian prison
BY EMILY BIRNBAUM - 01/08/19 07:57 AM EST
RE:https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4...iranian-prison

The family of a U.S. Navy veteran says that he has been held for months in Iranian prison after authorities in the country seized him in July, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Michael White's mother told the Times that State Department officials told her several week ago that her son is being detained in a prison in Iran.

“All I know is that he is alive and they were putting in a request for a consular visit by the Swiss,” Joanne White told the newspaper.

Joanne White said her son had visited Iran "five or six times" to see his Iranian girlfriend. He was set to return from Iran in July but never bordered his flight, prompting his mother to file a missing-persons report.

“We are aware of reports of the detention of a U.S. citizen in Iran,” the State Department said in a statement to the Times. “We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens abroad. Due to privacy considerations, we have no additional information to provide at this time.”

At least five other Americans are currently detained in Iran, according to CNN.

White's imprisonment comes during a period of strained relations between Tehran and Iran, with the U.S. recently reimposing severe sanctions on Iran. The sanctions, which were reinstated following President Trump's decision to leave the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, have hurt the country's economy.

White's mother noted that he had undergone chemotherapy for a neck tumor before he left for Iran and suffers from asthma.