March 15, 2019
The former American sailor held in Iran since last summer has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison, an unusually long time for the crimes of which he was convicted.
Michael White, 46, was arrested last July in Mashhad, where he was visiting a girlfriend he reportedly met over the Internet (although he has a wife in San Diego).
The American lawyer retained by his family, Mark Zaid, told reporters he had learned from Iran that White was sentenced to two years for insulting the Supreme Leader and 10 years for disclosing private information by posting a photo on Instagram of the woman he was visiting. Under Iranian law, he serves thre longest of the sentences he is given.
The photo accompanying this article was one of those he posted on Instagram. The description of the charge suggested that it was his girlfriend who filed the complaint of invasion of privacy with the police,
As for the crime of insulting the Supreme Leader, there was no indication what White did to constitute an insult.
White is the only American—native born or naturalized—to have been arrested by Iran since President Trump took office after slamming President Obama in the campaign for allowing Iran to hold Americans.
Trump has said that freeing Americans held in foreign countries “is a priority” for him. However, the Trump Administration has been silent about White’s case.
Iran did not confirm his arrest until January—six months after his arrest—after a story about him appeared in print. After acknowledging his arrest, Iran allowed a diplomat from the Swiss embassy, which oversees US relations with Iran, to visit him in the Mashhad prison.
A prosecutor in Mashhad, Gholam-Ali Sadeqi, was quoted March 11 by the Tasnim news agency as saying a “verdict has been issued” against White and that he faced security charges.
That, however, contradicted a February statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which said White faced no security charges. There was no immediate explanation on the discrepancy. It might have been a misunderstanding on whether the charge of insulting the Supreme Leader should be counted as a security charge.
There was no indication White was charged for pursuing a woman when he was already married. But, in Iran, a man can have up to four wives. Jonathan Franks, a spokesman for White’s family in the United States, told the Los Angeles Times that White’s trip to Iran was his third to visit the woman, who has not been named.
Franks also said White’s family had been told he was beaten and interrogated about his naval service. White served 13 years in the Navy. Reports have variously said he was a cook or an aircraft repairman.
Zaid said an Iranian lawyer who did not speak English was assigned to defend White in Mashhad.
White is one of 10 American citizens and Green Card holders believed held in Iran. The others are father and son Baquer and Siamak Namazi, Chinese-American Wang Xiyue, art gallery owner Karan Vafadari, environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, retired FBI agent Robert Levinson and an unnamed dual national Iran says committed fraud by saying he could sell US green cards to Iranians. Afarin Neysari, wife of Vafadari, is a US green card holder and has also been jailed. Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese national, US resident and green card holder, is also held.
