President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran has permitted a US citizen, described as wrongfully detained, to leave the country in what he called a “gesture of Goodwill.”
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “Iran has allowed an American Citizen” who had been held since December 2024, during what he referred to as the “‘presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden,” to depart Iran.
The president said the woman was “safely outside of Iran” and in good health, adding that “The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran!”
Her attorney, international human rights lawyer Jared Genser, identified the freed American as Dena Karari.
Genser celebrated the development on X, writing that he was “delighted and excited” to share that his client, US citizen Dena Karari, was free after being stuck in Iran since December 2024 on what he called “bogus charges.”
He credited the outcome to what he described as President Trump’s “extraordinary and relentless efforts,” saying Karari was safe and on her way back to the United States.
The New York Times reported last August that Iranian authorities had detained an Iranian American woman in December 2024 and accused her of espionage.
According to the report, the dual citizen was employed by a US technology company and also operated a children’s charity in Iran.
She was released from prison but the regime confiscated her American and Iranian passports, preventing from leaving the country. It’s unclear if this is the same woman Trump was referring to.
The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, a hostage advocacy organization, says there are currently at least two US nationals being wrongfully detained in Iran.
