American man said held in Iran on unspecified charges

A US military veteran is being held in Iran where he was visiting his girlfriend, a report says, posing a fresh issue in the two countries’ thorny relations.

Michael R. White, 46, from Imperial Beach, California, never boarded a return flight via Dubai in July, his mother tells The New York Times.

The US State Department says it is “aware of reports” of the detention but declines details, citing privacy considerations.

“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad,” a State Department spokesperson says.

White’s mother, Joanne White, tells the Times that her son had visited Iran “five or six times” to see an Iranian woman described as his girlfriend. She says she learned from the State Department that he was imprisoned in Iran on unclear charges.

White would join at least three other US citizens, two of them of Iranian descent, in being detained in the clerical-led country.

— AFP