US ‘appreciates’ Iran’s release of American citizen: Trump

‘The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran,’ US president says

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US President Donald Trump gestures as he participates in a bilateral meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 14, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS

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US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States “appreciates” Iran’s release of an American citizen who he said was “wrongfully detained” in 2024.

“Iran has allowed an American Citizen, who was wrongfully detained in December of 2024 under the “presidency” of Sleepy Joe Biden, to leave the Country,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition. The United States of America appreciates this gesture of Goodwill by Iran,” he added.

Human rights attorney Jared Genser identified the released American as Dena Karari, who had been prevented from leaving Iran since December 2024.

The statement came amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, with American forces striking Iran and Tehran responding with attacks on US military bases across the region despite a Pakistani-mediated framework agreement toward reaching a lasting settlement.

According to CNN, the news organisation reached out to the White House and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, but Trump did not provide additional details about the circumstances of her release.

Genser said Karari was heading back to the United States and praised the Trump administration for their work to help get her home.

“They were doing everything they can and pushing from every direction they could,” he told CNN.

Karari’s case was not public knowledge before Wednesday. According to her lawyer, she had traveled to Iran to see family, but when she went to the airport to leave, her American and Iranian passports were seized, and could not depart.

She was ultimately interrogated dozens of times and subjected to “a coercive exit ban,” Genser said.

According to CNN, she was targeted because she operated “a non-profit called the Children of Mehr Foundation, which helped impoverished children in Iran with private donor support and authorisation of an OFAC license,” he said.

But in April, “for reasons we don’t entirely understand,” Karari’s exit ban expired and she got her passports back, Genser told CNN.

Then negotiations started on the US-Iran MOU, and they "reached out obviously urgently to the White House and to the negotiators” to urge them to push on her case, Genser said, adding that it was his understanding that it was raised.

“Ultimately, earlier today, she’s able to get across the border” and leave Iran, he said.