Wife begs Iran to free jailed student husband

It has been more than two years since Qu Hua saw her husband Wang Xiyue.

The Princeton doctoral student was in Iran studying century-old archives when he was arrested in August 2016.

The US citizen is now serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted on two counts of espionage.

“Iran took him and used him as a political pawn to negotiate with the rest of the countries including the US,” Ms Qu said from New York. “I think that is wrong and my husband is completely innocent.”

She was in New York last week to gather support for her husband, meeting US and international officials.

“I’ve been through a lot of political turbulence the past two years,” Ms Qu said. “I feel this administration really takes the hostage issue as a priority.”

She says she was encouraged by the government’s recent interest in her husband. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert O’Brien “all mentioned my husband’s name”, she said.

Her hope is that involving senior officials will pressure Iran into releasing Mr Wang.

“I can only see that my husband can be released on humanitarian grounds,” Ms Qu said. “That’s the only hope that he has but it has to be done through discreet diplomacy.”

She can have daily phone calls with Mr Wang, who is in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

The centre’s nickname of “Evin University” – after the number of intellectuals, political opponents, regime critics and foreign detainees held there – masks the brutal conditions.

Ms Qu says her husband’s spirits remain strong, but he longs for home and his young son. Her final plea was to Iran’s government.

“Please let my son have his dad,” she said.

Ms Qu is allowed daily calls with Mr Wang, who is being held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison