“He risked his life to get the information out for me when I was in the prison in Iran. He met White in 2018 after one such arrest when Vatankhah faced accusations of spreading propaganda against Tehran's government. Though Vatankhah was later released, he was arrested again, this time winding up in the same cell as White in Iran's Mashhad prison. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it does not discuss individual humanitarian parole cases. Vatankhah said his humanitarian parole is good for one year, but he already has applied for asylum, which would allow him to remain in the U.S.

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Persons: — Michael White, White, Mahdi Vatankhah, “, ” White, Vatankhah, Jonathan Franks, White's, —, Qassem Soleimani, Paris Etemadi Scott, “ Mahdi, ”, He's, Eric Tucker Organizations: WASHINGTON, Navy, AP, U.S, Iranian, Quds Force, Revolutionary Guard, Citizenship, Immigration Services, State Department, Twitter Locations: Iranian, White, United States, Los Angeles, Iran, U.S, Southern California, Iran's Mashhad, American, Turkey, Paris, California, San Diego