WASHINGTON (AP) ‐ The killing of a top Iranian general has ratcheted up the anxiety of families of Americans held in Iran, one month after the release of a New Jersey student had given them hope.The Trump administration has made a priority of bringing home hostages held abroad, but the prospect of a resolution for the handful of captives in Iran seems to have dimmed with the two nations edging dangerously close to conflict and warning of retaliatory strikes and continued agitation.
"He wasn’t safe before now, but now he’s really not safe," said Joanne White, whose son, Navy veteran Michael White of Imperial Beach, California, has been imprisoned since July while visiting a girlfriend in Iran. "I don’t know if anyone is going to retaliate."
Iran has vowed revenge for the airstrike that killed Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani ‐ the U.S. accused him of plotting new attacks just before his death ‐ and has abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The Trump administration, while saying it remains committed to freeing Americans from Iran, has said it’s prepared to respond to any attacks from the Islamic Republic.