普林斯顿大学（Princeton University）研究生王夕越热爱历史和语言，在两年前的暑假前往德黑兰（Tehran）学习波斯语并在伊朗国家档案馆（National Archives）从事研究。王夕越得到了伊朗政府的许可，并被德黑兰的一所语言学院录取。

但在2016年8月，伊朗当局逮捕了王夕越，指控他犯有间谍罪，并将他关入德黑兰的埃文监狱（Evin Prison）。伊朗革命法庭（Revolutionary Courts）在一次闭门审理后判处他10年徒刑。

37岁的王夕越出生在中国，后来成为美国公民。美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥（Mike Pompeo）说他是“完全无辜的”。美国常驻联合国代表尼基·黑利（Nikki Haley）也要求伊朗释放这位一心求学的学者。

联合国任意拘禁问题工作组（United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention）对这起案件进行了调查，并认定“逮捕及羁押王先生毫无法律依据”，他遭到了“任意”逮捕，而且对他的审理是不公正的。该工作组要求立即释放王夕越。

王夕越是被无端关押在伊朗的几名美国人之一。蓬佩奥国务卿在今年早些时候发表讲话指出：“伊朗继续羁押美国人：巴克尔·纳马奇（Baquer Namazi）、西亚马克·纳马奇(Siamak Namazi)、王夕越，以及已经失踪了11年多的鲍勃·莱文森（Bob Levinson）。”美国要求伊朗立即释放这些美国人，让他们能回国与家人团聚。

与此同时，在普林斯顿的一间研究生公寓中，王夕越的妻子曲桦正在焦心地等待丈夫回到自己和他们5岁的儿子身边。曲桦今年36岁，在4年前来到普林斯顿前曾在北京从事律师工作。

曲桦和普林斯顿大学在王夕越被关押的第一年里并没有公开披露他的冤情，他们都希望外交努力能够让他获释。但自2017年5月以来，曲桦开始竭尽全力地为王夕越获释大声疾呼。

她在普林斯顿历史系教学楼外举行的守夜活动上讲话，并在脸书（Facebook）和其他社交媒体上组建了支持小组。她和丈夫通过电话联系，很担心他的健康，并努力保持希望。

曲桦说：“我非常难过。现在已经进入第三个年头了。”他们的儿子上周已开始上学读书。

曲桦表示，王夕越研读的是语言以及十九世纪末至二十世纪初的欧亚史，“与伊朗政治无关”。他的学术领域是俄罗斯研究。

曲桦介绍说，博士研究生必须掌握两门外语，王夕越希望波斯语成为他精通的外语之一。

她说，当他被德黑兰的德胡达学会（Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute）录取时，他感到有些意外。他的论文导师、一位俄罗斯历史教授鼓励他去，而且普林斯顿大学历史系以及普林斯顿的伊朗及波斯湾研究中心（Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies ）为他的学习和研究提供了经费。

联合国任意拘禁问题工作组说，伊朗在就有关问询做出的官方回复中没有对“查阅有关100多年前的执政情况的历史档案是如何变成企图推翻伊朗政府的”给出任何解释。

该工作组得出结论认为，他被羁押的真正原因“在于他是一名美国公民”。

现在，曲桦只能焦虑地等待，期待有一天她的儿子能再见到父亲，王夕越能够继续完成学业，而她也能在美国追求自己的职业理想。

American scholar languishes in Iranian jail

Princeton University graduate student Xiyue Wang’s love of history and languages took him to Tehran two summers ago to learn Persian and conduct research in Iran’s National Archives. Wang had the authorization of the Iranian government and admission to a language institute in Tehran.

But in August 2016 authorities arrested Wang, charged him with espionage and sent him to Tehran’s Evin Prison. The Revolutionary Courts handed down a 10-year sentence after a closed trial.

Wang, 37, a naturalized American citizen born in China, is “completely innocent,” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has demanded Iran free the aspiring scholar.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention investigated the case and determined “there was no legal basis for the arrest and detention of Mr. Wang,” that his arrest was “arbitrary” and his trial unfair. The group demanded his immediate release.

Wang is one of a number of Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran. Pompeo noted in remarks earlier this year that “Iran continues to hold Americans hostage: Baquer Namazi, Siamak Namazi, Xiyue Wang, and Bob Levinson, who has been missing for over 11 years.” The U.S. has called on Iran to immediately release all these Americans so they may return to their families.

Meanwhile, in a graduate-student apartment at Princeton, Wang’s disconsolate wife, Hua Qu, waits for Wang to come home to her and their 5-year-old son.

She and the university said nothing publicly about Wang’s plight during his first year as a prisoner while they hoped diplomatic efforts would win his release. But since May 2017 Qu, 36, an attorney in Beijing before moving to Princeton four years ago, has done everything in her power to win Wang’s release.

She has spoken at vigils outside the History Department on Princeton’s campus and formed support groups on Facebook and other social media. She talks with her husband by phone, worries about his health and tries not to lose hope.

“I’m really depressed. This is entering the third year,” said Qu, whose son started attending school last week.

Wang is a student of languages and the history of Eurasia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, “not Iran politics in any way,” Qu said. His field is Russian studies.

Doctoral students must achieve proficiency in two foreign languages, Qu noted, and Wang wanted to make Persian one of his.

He was surprised when the Dehkhoda Lexicon Institute in Tehran accepted his application, she said. His dissertation adviser, a Russian history professor, encouraged him to go, and the History Department and Princeton’s Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies funded his study and research.

The U.N. Working Group said Iran, in an official response to its inquiry, offered no explanation of “how accessing historical archives relating to a period of governance over 100 years ago could amount to an attempt to overthrow the Iranian government.”

The panel concluded the actual reason for his detention was “that he is an American citizen.”

For now, Qu waits and worries, longing for the day when her son can see his father again, when Wang can resume his scholarship, and when she can pursue professional dreams of her own in America.