Iranian scientist Majid Taheri returned home on Monday after his release from jail in the United States as part of a prisoner exchange, semi-official news agency Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported.

Taheri, an Iranian-American who had been working at a clinic in Tampa, Florida, had been detained in the United States for 16 months.

He was freed on Thursday as Iran released U.S. Navy veteran Michael White, who had been detained in the Islamic republic since his arrest in July 2018.

Upon his arrival at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, Taheri was greeted by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari.

"I hope to see the release of (other Iranians imprisoned abroad) in the near future," Ansari was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency, adding his ministry would do its best to achieve this.

Ansari said the scientist was freed after months of efforts by the ministry in coordination with Switzerland, whose embassy in Tehran handles U.S. interests.

Taheri for his part thanked Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. He was the second scientist to have returned to Iran from the United States in the past week, after Cyrus Asgari flew home on Wednesday.

A U.S. federal judge issued an order to free Taheri on time served.

Taheri had been accused of violating U.S. sanctions by sending a technical item to Iran and in December pleaded guilty to charges he violated financial reporting requirements by depositing 277,344 U.S. dollars at a bank, repeatedly showing up with loose cash, according to court documents.

Unfair and false

On Monday he rejected accusations against him as "unfair and false," and claimed he was just helping the University of Tehran to develop a cancer vaccine, according to Iran's Fars news agency.

Iran-U.S. tensions have soared in recent years as President Donald Trump has pursued a campaign of "maximum pressure" against America's sworn enemy.

Since unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018, Trump has hit the Islamic republic with sweeping sanctions.

The two sides appeared to come to the brink of a direct conflict for the second time in less than a year in January, when Trump ordered an air strike that killed one of Iran's top generals, Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad.

Iran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at U.S. troops stationed in Iraq, but Trump opted against responding militarily. No American soldiers were killed by the missiles.

Following White's release, Trump voiced hope for progress with Iran. "Thank you to Iran, it shows a deal is possible!" the U.S. president wrote on Twitter.

Three more U.S. citizens are known to be imprisoned in Iran. All are of Iranian origin, so Tehran considers them its own citizens.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)