Iran releases US student in prisoner exchange, says foreign minister

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(CNN) - An American graduate student, who was held for three years in Iran on suspicion of being a spy, was released and undergoes a medical evaluation at a US Army hospital in Germany, before traveling to the United States.

Xiyue Wang, born in China, arrived in Germany on Saturday and is being evaluated at the Landstuhl regional medical center, operated by the United States Army. Wang will be in the facility for medical evaluation for an indeterminate period, the source said.

Wang, a PhD student at Princeton University, was conducting an investigation in Tehran when he was arrested on espionage charges in August 2016. He was sent to Iran's Evin prison and sentenced to 10 years.

Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said on Saturday that Wang's release comes as an exchange of prisoners between the two countries. In exchange for the release of Wang, USA. He released Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani, Zarif said on Twitter, sharing a photo of himself accompanying Soleimani home on an Iranian plane. Soleimani, a stem cell scientist, was arrested by U.S. police upon landing in Chicago in the fall of 2018, according to Iranian state television Press TV.

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Zarif said Soleimani and Wang "will join their families soon."

Because the US and Iran have no diplomatic relations, the Swiss government provided consular services to Wang and informed the State Department.

The White House announced Wang's release in a statement on Saturday, thanking the Swiss for their help in negotiations with Iran. US officials have not responded to CNN's request for a statement about Iran's announcement of Soleimani's release.

"Releasing Americans in captivity is of vital importance to my Administration, and we will continue to work hard to take all our captive citizens abroad," President Donald Trump said in a statement.

Wang was taken on a Swiss government plane to Zurich from Iran, a different source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. Brian Hook, special representative of the State Department for Iran, met him in Zurich, the source confirmed.

The New York Times first reported the details of the arrival in Zurich.

"He was simply a scholar"

Wang was born in 1980 in Beijing and immigrated to the United States in 2001, where he became a naturalized citizen in 2009. Wang's wife, Hua Qu, and his young son, Shaofan, are Chinese citizens.

Wang is a student of Eurasian history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, according to Princeton University. With funds from the university, Wang went to Iran to study Farsi and conduct academic research for his work.

Before traveling to Iran, Wang presented his research plan in letters to the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, DC, which issued his visa.

“I was not involved in any political activity or social activism; He was simply a scholar trying to access the materials he needed for his dissertation, ”says the university.

Iran accused Wang of being "sent" by Princeton to "infiltrate" the country, charges the university says are "completely false."

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In 2018, a United Nations panel on arbitrary detention said there was no legal basis for Wang's arrest and imprisonment, and requested his immediate release.

'Negotiation'

In August, three years after being incarcerated, Wang's wife, Hua Qu, called for Trump and the international community to help free her husband.

“My husband is an academic researcher. He is father, husband. He is not a political figure and is definitely not a spy, ”Qu said at the National Press Club in Washington, adding that he felt that Wang was being used as a“ currency of exchange ”in a“ geopolitical dispute ”between the United States and Iran .

While Qu said at the time that he was in regular contact with the State Department, including Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Robert O'Brien, he was looking for the administration to do more. He referred to the fact that Trump had sent O'Brien to Sweden on behalf of A $ AP Rocky, and noted that the arrested rapper "was quickly released."

On Saturday, Qu celebrated her husband's release, saying in a statement: “Our family is complete once again. Our son Shaofan and I have waited three long years for this day and it is difficult to express in words how excited we are to meet with Xiyue. ”

After the news of Wang's release, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the United States "would not rest until we take all our Americans in Iran and around the world to their loved ones."

Americans released