A White House spokesman said Michael White’s release may lead to an opening in the otherwise deeply bitter relationship between Iran and the United States.

“I am to happy announce that Navy Veteran, Michael White, who has been detained by Iran for 683 days, is on a Swiss plane that just left Iranian Airspace.

White’s release is a rare bright spot in an otherwise deeply frayed relationship between the United States and Iran, which have grown more hostile toward each other since Trump took office in 2017.

Both the United States and Iran have called for the release of prisoners due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“My son, Michael, has been held hostage in Iran by the IRGC and I have been living a nightmare,” his mother Joanne White said in a statement announcing his release.

White’s release comes two days after the United States deported Sirous Asgari, an Iranian professor imprisoned in the United States despite being acquitted on charges of stealing trade secrets.