US names former Iran prisoner as senior advisor – Politico

The US State Department has appointed Iran hawk Xiyue Wang, held prisoner in Tehran for over three years on spy charges, as a senior adviser for Iran, Politico reported on Wednesday.

Wang, who has been outspoken about opposing nuclear negotiations with Iran, recently joined the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.

Wang was held for 1,216 days in Tehran’s Evin Prison and released in 2019 in exchange for an Iranian scientist convicted in the US of violating sanctions.

He had traveled to Iran as a Princeton graduate student with permission from the Iranian foreign ministry before being arrested and imprisoned on espionage charges.

In a 2021 lawsuit, Wang accused Princeton University of failing to support him during his detention and of pressuring his family to stay quiet. “They sent me to Iran and left me there,” Wang said at the time.

The US and Iran are set to begin a fifth round of indirect talks in Rome on Friday in spite of remarks from Iran's Supreme Leader this week doubting they will be able to reach an agreement if US terms remain set on stopping Iran's uranium enrichment.