WASHINGTON, United States, May 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - An Iranian citizen who holds permanent US residency has been released from prison in Iran and has returned to the United States, the State Department confirmed Tuesday.

"The State Department happily welcomes the safe return of Shahab Dalili from his detention in Iran," a department spokesperson said in a statement.

"Iran should immediately release all those unjustly detained in Iran," the official continued, adding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio "will continue to work for the release of all unjustly detained Americans."

Iran and the United States are currently embroiled in a war that has shaken the Middle East and elevated energy prices.

Negotiations on a deal to end the conflict have gone on for weeks but neither side has accepted the other's peace proposals.

Earlier Tuesday, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said: "Shahab Dalili, an Iranian citizen and US permanent resident who had been imprisoned in Evin Prison, was released after serving 10 years in prison. Following his release, he returned to the United States."

The rights group said the man, who was sentenced for allegedly "cooperating with a hostile government," travelled after his release from Iran to the Armenian capital Yerevan before returning to Washington "where he is now safe and reunited with his family." It did not specify the date of his return.

Dalili was jailed in 2016 when he visited Iran for his father's funeral.

He strongly denied the charges he was detained on.

Both he and his son went on hunger strike in 2023 after he was not included in a deal to free American citizens.

That deal saw the United States authorize the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in South Korea and the release of five Iranians to facilitate the release of five Americans jailed by Iran in 2023.