TEHRAN (Ruptly) — Majid Taheri, an Iranian physician held in the USA for more than a year, arrived in Tehran on Monday following a prisoner swap with the United States.

Taheri’s release came after Michael White, a US Navy veteran detained in Iran since 2018, was freed last Thursday.

Taheri was welcomed by his family members and Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari after he arrived in Imam Khomeini Airport.

Majid Taheri declared in Persian:

I was helping the University of Tehran with the vaccine for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) virus which causes cancer in humans, especially for women. Because my family has an [inaudible] background, I met researchers in this field. I wanted to help the countrymen and compatriots, as a doctor whose professional, moral, and national duty is to help others.

[…]

But unfortunately, they [the Americans] made a very unjust and false accusation against me. I was in prison there for a year and six months.