Leader’s brother, researcher detained

Iran has imprisoned a Chinese-American man for 10 years after accusing him of “infiltrating” the country and detained President Hassan Rouhani’s brother over allegations of financial misconduct, authorities said Sunday.

News of the detentions comes less than two months after relative moderate Rouhani beat a hard-line opponent to win reelection by running in large part on his record of pursuing greater engagement with the West. They were announced by the judiciary, a pillar of hard-liners’ influence.

The Chinese-American dual national was identified as Xiyue Wang, a 37-year-old history researcher, according to Mizan Online, a website affiliated with the judiciary.

“It was verified and determined that he was gathering (information) and was involved in infiltration,” Judiciary spokesman Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejehi said in a routine press briefing.

Ejehi did not identify Wang by name. But hours after he spoke, Mizan published an article attributed to an unnamed source that revealed his identity and included several photos of him apparently taken from the internet.

The Mizan article said he was born in Beijing and entered Iran as a researcher. It pointed to graduate studies he did at Princeton University in 2013 and 2014.

In a statement, Princeton said Wang was arrested while conducting research on the 17941925 Qajar dynasty for his PhD on late 19th and early 20th century Eurasian history.

“We were very distressed by the charges brought against him in connection with his scholarly activities, and by his subsequent conviction and sentence,” the statement read.

Wang was arrested on Aug. 8, 2016 and is accused of passing confidential information about Iran to the U.S. State Department, Princeton’s Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, the Harvard Kennedy School and the British Institute of Persian Studies, according to Mizan. It alleged he recorded some 4,500 pages of digital documents.

Meanwhile Ejehi said the president’s brother, Hossein Fereidoun, was taken into custody over allegations of financial impropriety and is eligible for bail, but has not paid it yet.

Fereidoun is a close confidante of the moderate president, a cleric who changed his surname to Rouhani, meaning “spiritual,” after joining the seminary decades ago.

Fereidoun was part of the negotiating team that ultimately sealed Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, winning the country relief from international sanctions in exchange for limits on its atomic energy program.

The unproven allegations were a flashpoint during the May presidential election, with the president’s challengers demanding that the judiciary investigate accusations against Fereidoun.