On July 16, Xiyue Wang, a Chinese-American dual citizen pursuing graduate studies at Princeton University, was sentenced by an Iranian court to ten years in prison on charges of espionage. Wang, who had come to the Islamic Republic to conduct historical research in the national archive, had been arrested in the summer of 2016. Michael Totten comments:
Arresting Wang and convicting him of espionage is part of another pattern that has been ongoing for years. This is the same government that convicted the Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian of espionage before releasing him and three other prisoners last year on the same day the United States government paid Iran $400 million. . . .
The only thing unique about arresting Wang is that he holds dual Chinese-American citizenship. Iran’s government generally captures dual Iranian-American nationals, presumably because it thinks it can get away with it a little more easily.
Two months ago, American and Iranian diplomats met in Vienna and discussed yet another batch of four dual American-Iranians held in Iran, including the art-gallery owner Karan Vafadari, his wife Afarin Niasari, the businessman Siamak Namazi, and his father Baquer Namazi. . . .
Even if arresting and charging Wang weren’t part of a well-established pattern already, we should always be skeptical when a repressive police state tells us why it puts anybody in prison. . . . From the very first moment I started working in the Middle East as a journalist, all kinds of people over there have accused me of being a spy. At first I didn’t even know what to say. I could hardly convince anyone otherwise. . . .
Read more on World Affairs Journal: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/iran-takes-another-american-hostage