An Iranian scientist returned home Monday after his release from a US jail in what the Islamic republic said was a prisoner exchange it hopes can be repeated between the arch-foes.
Majid Taheri — an Iranian-American who had been working at a clinic in Tampa, Florida — had been detained in the United States for 16 months.
US and Iran prisoner exchange
He was freed on Thursday as Iran released US Navy veteran Michael White, who had been detained in the country since his arrest in July 2018.
Upon his arrival at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, Taheri was greeted by deputy foreign minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari.
State media published pictures of the pair speaking to journalists.
“I hope to see the release of (other Iranians imprisoned abroad) in the near future,” Ansari was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency, adding his ministry would do its best to achieve this.
Ansari said the scientist was freed after months of efforts by the ministry in coordination with Switzerland, whose embassy in Tehran handles US interests.
Taheri for his part thanked Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“I thank the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and dear officials, including Mr. Zarif, who worked hard, and other officials who took months to help release me, as an Iranian physician accused of circumventing US sanctions on medicine,” he was quoted as saying.
Taheri was the second scientist to have returned to Iran from the United States in the past week, after Cyrus Asgari flew home on Wednesday.
Iranian scientist held in US unfairlyÂ
A US federal judge issued an order to free Taheri on time served.
Taheri had been accused of violating US sanctions by sending a technical item to Iran and in December pleaded guilty to charges he violated financial reporting requirements by depositing $277,344 at a bank, repeatedly showing up with loose cash, according to court documents.
Taheri on Monday rejected accusations against him as “unfair and false”, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.
“I was helping the University of Tehran to develop a cancer vaccine, especially for women,” he was quoted as saying.
Another scientist, Sirous Asghari, had also been detained in the US despite being exonerated.
A US court had in November cleared Asgari of charges of stealing trade secrets in 2016 while he was on an academic visit to Ohio from Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology.
Read more: Iranian scientist indicted by US arrives back in Iran
The 59-year-old told British newspaper The Guardian in March that the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency was holding him at a Louisiana detention centre without basic sanitation and refusing to let him return to Iran despite his exoneration.
 Iran hopes for continued prisoner exchangeÂ
Both Iran and the United States hold a number of each other’s nationals and they have recently called for them to be released amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Islamic republic is holding at least five Americans and the US had 19 Iranians in detention prior to Asgari’s release, according to a list compiled by AFP based on official statements and media reports.
Government spokesman Ali Rabiei called on the US to release all Iranians in its custody.
“We hope that this process of the full release of all Iranian prisoners in the United States will continue,” he said, quoted by ISNA.
“Iran is fully prepared to exchange all prisoners, and the US government is responsible for this procrastination.”
#Iran is ready for a full prisoner exchange with the #US, says Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei, adding that Washington has yet to respond to Tehran’s call on a prisoner swap.https://t.co/4WFJYTBSam
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 10, 2020
US-Iran tensions highÂ
Iran-US tensions have soared in recent years as President Donald Trump has pursued a campaign of “maximum pressure” against America’s sworn enemy.
On 21 May 2018, Washington officially launched its pressure campaign against Iran after President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum ending all American commitments to the nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor.
The president declared the deal “defective” and vowed that Washington would “not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail”.
Since unilaterally withdrawing the US from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, Trump has hit the Islamic republic with sweeping sanctions.
Meanwhile, Iran opened a new facility for centrifuge production.
The move did not violate the JCPOA, but Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s nuclear watchdog, said that the decision to open the facility was in preparation “for a possible scenario” of the JCPOA falling apart.
The two sides appeared to come to the brink of a direct conflict for the second time in less than a year in January, when Trump ordered an air strike that killed one of Iran’s top generals, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad.
Iran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at US troops in Iraq, but Trump opted against responding militarily.
While the attack on the western Iraqi base of Ain Al-Asad left no American soldiers dead, dozens suffered brain trauma.
Following White’s release, Trump voiced hope for progress with Iran.
“Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible!” he tweeted.
So great to have Michael home. Just arrived. Very exciting. Thank you to Iran. Don’t wait until after U.S. Election to make the Big deal. I’m going to win. You’ll make a better deal now! https://t.co/OGJU2VWBWq
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2020
Us and Iran prisoner exchanges have occurred despite having had no formal diplomatic relations since 1980.
Tehran exchanged Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian in January 2016 for seven Iranians held in the US, on the day the nuclear agreement had entered into force.
In December, Iran freed Xiyue Wang, a US academic, in exchange for scientist Massoud Soleimani.
Americans and dual nationals currently known to be held by Iran include Siamak Namazi, his father Baquer, and Morad Tahbaz.
Two others — Gholam Reza Shahini and Karan Vafadari — have reportedly been freed on bail.
Most of the Iranians held in the US are dual nationals charged with evading sanctions by either exporting goods to Iran or using the US financial system.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk