US Eyes Deal to Free American in Iran, Pushes Back on Swap

[undercover JIX]

US Eyes Deal to Free American in Iran, Pushes Back on Swap
By Associated Press
May 07, 2020 08:50 AM


Michael White is seen in an undated photo from social media.
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials believe they're making progress in efforts to secure the release from Iran of a detained Navy veteran, but they are pushing back on Iranian suggestions that a swap is in the works for an imprisoned Iranian that American officials have been trying to deport since last year.

Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy Homeland Security secretary, said Wednesday that the cases of American detainee Michael White in Iran and Sirous Asgari, the Iranian imprisoned in the United States, have never been connected. He expressed frustration with recent comments from Iranian officials that there may be a link between the two and complained that Iran had been slow to accept Asgari's return.

"We've been trying to deport this guy for months," Cuccinelli told The Associated Press. "There has never been any breath of a link between the two until they made it a news story a couple of days ago."

Cuccinelli said DHS had started to try to deport Asgari on Dec. 12 after his acquittal on charges of trying to steal sensitive trade secrets. However, he said, Iran refused to recognize him as legitimately Iranian and provide him with a validated passport until late February.

Once Asgari received the passport, DHS made several attempts to fly him back to Iran, purchasing tickets for flights on March 10, March 18, March 23, April 1 and May 1, according to Cuccinelli. Each of those flights was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

Cuccinelli, an immigration hardliner who has advocated for tougher deportation policies, said Iran has also been slow-walking the return of 10 other Iranian prisoners slated for deportation from the U.S.

Asgari "is one of 11 Iranians that have orders of removal that Iran is not taking back and there's a bunch more we're processing," Cuccinelli said. "We've been trying to get rid of this guy for six months. If they'd send us a plane tomorrow, we've got 11 of them for them to take back now. From our perspective, (Asgari) is no different than others."

He would not speculate as to why the Iranians appeared reluctant to accept deportees back into the country but said Iran has a history of "being difficult" in such cases.

Cuccinelli's remarks came amid reports that a prisoner swap for White, who is currently on a medical furlough after being jailed in Iran, could be imminent and comments from Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, that Asgari could be in the mix.

Senior U.S. officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said the administration's efforts to get White released are continuing separately from the DHS deportation cases. But they could not predict if or when the release might be finalized; nor would they say if it would involve the actual swap of any prisoners.

Earlier Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned White and thanked Switzerland, which represents U.S. interests in Iran, for its work in helping to get the veteran released from prison on a medical furlough that was extended last month. Pompeo also reiterated calls for Iran to release other Americans held there, including Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz.

"Our gratitude also goes out to Switzerland, the United States protecting power in Iran for now four decades, for its efforts to extend Michael White's medical furlough and seeking humanitarian furloughs for Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz and bringing home all U.S. citizens wrongfully detained," Pompeo told reporters at a State Department news conference.

White, of Imperial Beach, California, was detained in July 2018 while visiting a girlfriend in Iran. He was convicted of insulting Iran's supreme leader and posting private information online.

He was released from prison in March on a medical furlough that required him to remain in the country. White is among tens of thousands of prisoners granted medical furloughs by Iran, which was one of the first countries to be hit hard by the spreading coronavirus.

White's mother has told The Associated Press that she was especially concerned about her son's health because of his battles with cancer, and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson called on Iran to grant him an immediate humanitarian evacuation.

Trump administration officials have repeatedly said they consider the release of American hostages and detainees to be a high priority.

In December, Iran released a Princeton University scholar held for three years on widely disputed espionage charges in exchange for the release of a detained Iranian scientist.

In March, the family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran 13 years ago, said they had been informed by U.S. officials that they had determined that Levinson was probably dead. Officials have not said how they reached that conclusion.

https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/us-eyes-deal-free-american-iran-pushes-back-swap

 

[Sineva]

Yet more BULLSH!T from the chump regime.
In fact far from trying to get rid of asgari and simply put him on a flight to iran,the us has kept him indefinitely detained since his acquittal,and unlike the us citizens detained in iran asgari was not given a medical furlough because of the risk of contracting covid-19,but was in fact shuttled around the country which ultimately led to him being infected with covid-19.Yet despite this the us Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ice] said that he would only be transferred to hospital if he had trouble breathing.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/28/iran-scientist-us-detention-coronavirus-sirous-asgari

Iranian scientist in US jail contracts coronavirus after pleading for release
Dr Sirous Asgari, in Ice detention despite having been exonerated in a sanctions trial, had warned of ‘inhumane’ conditions

An Iranian scientist who has been pleading for weeks to be released from a US immigration jail due to his fragile health has contracted Covid-19, according to his family and attorneys.

Dr Sirous Asgari, a materials science and engineering professor who spoke out in March about the unsanitary and “inhumane” conditions in detention, was placed in an isolation cell this week inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) jail in Louisiana. His lawyers learned on Tuesday that his Covid-19 test was positive, and in a phone call with the Guardian, Asgari had a bad cough and said he had had a fever for days.

He and his family are calling for his release to a medical facility where he can receive proper care.

“It makes sense to send me to the hospital as soon as possible. I don’t trust them at all,” the 59-year-old said on Tuesday amid repeated coughing fits. “If something happens, they are not fast responders … I prefer to leave this dirty place.”

Asgari’s story sparked international outrage after he spoke about his fears of Covid-19 spreading inside crowded Ice facilities with substandard cleaning practices and a lack of supplies. The professor, who has a history of respiratory problems, was exonerated in a US sanctions trial last year, but Ice has refused to release him or allow him to return to Iran. Iran’s foreign minister recently called for his release, as have some US lawmakers and human rights groups.

Asgari is confined to a small room at the Winn correctional center in a Louisiana, a state hard hit by coronavirus.

Ice informed the attorneys that Asgari’s test was positive on Tuesday, but Asgari said Ice had not yet told him the results and that he had learned of them on a call with his family and lawyers. “The nurse … always says the test results are not in,” Asgari said, noting that the medical staff checked on him twice or three times a day.

Ice told Asgari’s lawyers he would only be released to a hospital if he was struggling to breathe, the attorneys said.

Bryan Cox, an Ice spokesman, said there were two confirmed Covid-19 cases at Winn but declined to answer specific questions about Asgari.

The professor has repeatedly raised concerns about Ice continuing to bring in new detainees into the close quarters of the facility, mixing them with those already jailed. Asgari said he got a bad fever after Ice recently brought a new group to his pod.

The specifics of Asgari’s case have been particularly shocking to immigration attorneys. Asgari, a father of three, has deep ties to the US, including two children living in America. In 2017, he was charged with fraud and trade secret theft relating to his work with a university in Ohio. But after a long trial, he was acquitted in November 2019.

But because the US had revoked his original visa, he was taken into Ice custody and has remained detained. Since the pandemic hit, he has tried to “self-deport” to Iran or get approval to stay with his family in the US but has been denied. Now, even if released, he would probably be unable to get on an immediate flight due to his diagnosis.

“This mass [detention] under this outbreak of a nasty virus is absolutely wrong,” Asgari said on Tuesday after learning of his test results. “What more proof do they need?”

Asgari said he was unable to shower while in isolation and was given a bowl of water he could use to wash his head. He said he had also pleaded for fresh fruit, which he has not had for a month.

At Winn, he and other detainees told the Guardian last month that many of them were trying to get deported because they were so fearful of Covid-19 exposure inside. Several men said the detainees were responsible for all cleaning, and there was a single shower and only two toilets for all 44 of them to share. They are also sleeping on beds spaced roughly 2ft apart.

“I can’t believe this is happening. It’s devastating,” said Mehrnoush Yazdanyar, an attorney working with Asgari’s family. “Every fear he had has been realized, one by one, with him ending up with Covid-19. This is an innocent man who hasn’t committed any crimes. He shouldn’t be behind bars. Why does the US government continue to keep him in detention?”

The number of positive Covid-19 cases inside Ice jails has been steadily climbing, with Ice officials reporting that hundreds of detainees have the virus. But only a fraction of people inside immigration jails have received tests so far, and rights groups fear the rate could be much higher. Some judges have ordered Ice to release detainees due to Covid-19 risks, and advocates have urged the US to conduct immediate mass releases to avoid a huge death toll inside.

As of 18 April, Ice had 30,737 people in custody, and the population in jails has declined by roughly 8,000 since 29 February, according to the Ice spokesman.

Cox said Ice had adequate cleaning supplies, adding in an email that the agency had “a long history of handling communicable diseases in the course of everyday operations” and had “taken extensive precautions to limit the potential spread of COVID-19”.