DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – The Latest on Iran’s detention of an Iranian-British woman and a Chinese-American man (all times local):
2:35 a.m.
The wife of a Chinese-American graduate student now serving a 10-year prison sentence in Iran for allegedly “infiltrating” the country while doing doctoral research is reiterating the allegations are not true.
Hua Qu told The Associated Press on Sunday that she hasn’t spoken with the U.S. State Department about a video that Iranian state television aired Sunday about Xiyue Wang. She’s hoping he’ll be freed soon.
Wang was conducting doctoral research on Iran’s Qajar dynasty when he was arrested in Iran amid the detention of others with Western ties.
The footage aired accused Wang of trying to take around 4,500 documents from the country.
Qu notes the video’s airing come just before the mid-December deadline for Congress to decide whether economic sanctions lifted under the Iran nuclear accord should be re-imposed.
–Bruce Shipkowski
_____
9:30 p.m.
Iranian state television has aired a video featuring a Chinese-American graduate student now serving a 10-year prison sentence for allegedly “infiltrating” the country while doing doctoral research.
The new video aired Sunday night about Xiyue Wang comes after Iranian state television earlier focused on British-Iranian national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Wang was conducting doctoral research on Iran’s Qajar dynasty when he was arrested in Iran amid the detention of others with Western ties.
The footage aired Sunday accused Wang of trying to take around 4,500 documents from the country. An interrogator asks Wang why he did it, with other footage showing him emotional.
On Thursday, Iranian state television aired footage about Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government.
___
1 p.m.
Iranian state television has aired more allegations against a detained Iranian-British woman as London considers making a $530 million payment to Tehran.
The TV program focused on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the “soft toppling” of Iran’s government.
The program showed pictures of a BBC paystub and an email from 2010 showing she once worked to train Iranian journalists.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the report was intended to increase pressure on the British government.
London is considering repaying Tehran some 400 million pounds from a pre-1979 arms deal. Both sides say the money isn’t related to Zaghari-Ratcliffe, though a similar payment by America came as Iran released four U.S. citizens in 2016.
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.