White was sentenced to prison in Iran in 2019 He was released temporarily on medical grounds in March WASHINGTON: US president Donald Trump said on Thursday Michael White, a US citizen detained in Iran, had left Iranian airspace on a Swiss plane. Trump said that he expected White to be home with his family "very soon." ....I will never stop working to secure the release of all Americans held hostage overseas! Thank you Switzerland for your great assistance. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2020 "I am blessed to announce that the nightmare is over, and my son is safely on his way home," White"s mother, Joanne, said in a statement. White had tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and received treatment in Iran, said Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador who said he met senior Iranian officials to win his release. White, a US Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018, was freed on Thursday, a rare instance of cooperation between Tehran and Washington. White was sentenced to prison in Iran in 2019, having been arrested while traveling to meet his girlfriend in Mashhad. In March, as Iran was being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, White was handed over to Swiss custody and flown to Tehran but told not to leave the country.