A U.S. Navy veteran who was jailed in Iran for nearly two years has sued the Iranian government for $1 billion.
FILE - U.S. Navy veteran Michael White stands for a portrait Jan. 13, 2021, in San Diego. White, who was jailed in Iran for nearly two years, sued the Iranian government on Thursday, March 17, 2022, for $1 billion, alleging that he was kidnapped, held hostage and tortured. – A U.S. Navy veteran who was jailed in Iran for nearly two years sued the Iranian government on Thursday for $1 billion, alleging that he was kidnapped, held hostage and tortured.
The federal lawsuit describes in unsparing detail the “prolonged and continuous" abuse that Michael White says he suffered behind bars, including being beaten and punched, whipped on his feet, deprived of food and drink, and pressured to falsely confess that he was a spy for the U.S. government. “Mr. White endured this trauma for nearly two years, never knowing if or when he would be released and reunited with his family, repeatedly promised that his conditions would improve soon, only to be crushed psychologically when they did not,” the lawsuit states.that he wrote behind bars and that was later obtained by The Associated Press.
The suit also alleges that White's imprisonment was an effort by Iran to extract concessions from the Trump administration and to “manufacture additional leverage for diplomacy" in the aftermath of Iran's withdrawal in 2018 from a landmark nuclear deal with the U.S. Diplomats areThe lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. Besides White, other plaintiffs include his mother and two brothers.
It was not immediately clear if Iran planned to formally respond to the complaint, or if it had a lawyer who might enter an appearance in the case. If Iran does not respond to the allegations, a judge could enter a default judgment on White's behalf, enabling White to collect damages from a fund set up for victims of acts of state-sponsored terrorism., flying him back to the U.S. as part of a deal that spared additional prison time for an American-Iranian doctor convicted in the U.S.
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