Princeton Student Imprisoned In Iran Is Innocent, Pompeo Says

PRINCETON, NJ — New U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday acknowledged the plight of a Princeton University scholar who has been imprisoned in Iran, saying Xiyue Wang is innocent.

The statement came in response to a statement from New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), who raised the issue of Wang’s imprisonment during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting. Wang has been imprisoned for 653 days.

“She appealed to you and to the President,” Smith told Pompeo during the hearing. “'My husband,’ she said, ‘is an innocent man, Mr. President. He is in prison solely because he is an American.’”

“She is correct in her announcement,” Pompeo responded. “Her husband is completely innocent, and held for a singular reason.”

Wang is a Princeton graduate student who lives in New Jersey with his wife and four-year-old son. He was working on an Iranian government-approved research project in Iran at the time of his arrest.

He is accused of scanning 4,500 documents and attempting to access confidential information in Tehran. He has been arrested, tried and convicted on charges of espionage. He was sentenced in July of last year to 10 years in prison. A month later, Iran denied Wang's appeal of the sentence.

His wife, Hua Qu, maintains her husband’s innocence. She has asked President Donald Trump to work to free her husband from the Iranian prison. The request came during a rally in Princeton, shortly after three American prisoners who had been imprisoned in North Korea were released.

One day earlier, Smith — who was recently visited by Qu in his Mercer County office — sent a letter to Pompeo congratulating him on his recent nomination and confirmation, and requesting the administration’s help on the issue.

“When I was first elected in 1980, one of President Ronald Reagan’s most pressing challenges was the resolution of the American hostage crisis in Iran,” Smith wrote in his letter. “He moved swiftly and decisively, and we all gave thanks for their return.

“Since that time, and as a senior member of the Foreign Affairs committee, I have worked with many other families to free their relatives held by Iran. Sadly, the Iranian regime continues its reprehensible practice of holding innocent Americans for ransom.”

He went on to describe Wang’s case, saying Iran was holding him on fabricated charges, and that Wang has been separated from his wife and toddler son for almost two years.

“Sadly, the boy, now four, has a fading recollection of his father,” Smith wrote. “And at this very moment, Mr. Wang languishes in a cold, dark and unsanitary cell, and is forced to endure harsh interrogations. His wife, who speaks to him on the phone when allowed, reports he is losing hope.”

He added that Qu was working with the State Department before Pompeo's arrival, but she is losing hope that her husband will be freed.

“We must exhaust all avenues to secure Mr. Wang’s prompt release and reunite this family,” Smith wrote.

On Wednesday, Smith reiterated his stance at the full committee hearing with dozens of other members of Congress from across the country. He also asked that if Robert Charles O’Brien — the nominee for Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — is assigned to the case, he work with Pompeo for Wang’s release.

“It has to be 24/7, to get these Americans to safety, because they are being used as pawns by the Iranian regime,” Smith told Pompeo. “So the more you can do on that, the better.”

“Yes, sir. She is correct in her announcement. Her husband is completely innocent, and held for a singular reason,” Pompeo said. “And I hope you’ll join us in a couple of weeks at the State Department when we roll out our International Religious Freedom report. I hope you’ll join all of us. It’s an important day. Much work to be done there as well.”

Any efforts to free Wang will be done against the backdrop of the Trump Administration’s recent decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran Nuclear Deal. The president has reinstated all sanctions the government waived in a deal the United States entered into with Iran and other countries under President Barack Obama. The other countries who entered into the deal back in 2015 remain committed to it.

Pompeo has since vowed that Iran would see the"strongest sanctions in history" if it fails to enter into a new deal. He has accused Iran of spending money from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — the Obama-era nuclear deal — on funding "proxy wars," the IRGC, Hezbollah and Hamas.

The last two have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the State Department. Pompeo has referred to Iran as the "largest sponsor of terror" in the world.

Earlier this week, he accused Iran of carrying out assassination operations in Europe, a claim that took Iranian experts by surprise, according to The Guardian. Iran has dismissed Pompeo and the United States as "prisoners of their past," according to The Hill.

See the video of the exchange between Smith and Pompeo here.

To read Smith’s full letter to Pompeo, click here.

The attached image of Xiyue Wang and his family was provided by the family and released via Princeton University