American held captive by Iranian government warns against return to 2015 nuclear deal without concessions

Xiyue Wang has become an active participant in the renewed debate over American Iran policy.  He’s writing, tweeting and speaking a warning to the new administration: the United States cannot return to the 2015 nuclear agreement without extracting deeper concessions from Iran’s government. 

Wang has become an active participant in the renewed debate over American Iran policy.  He’s writing, tweeting and speaking a warning to the new administration: The United States cannot return to the 2015 nuclear agreement without extracting deeper concessions from Iran’s government.  A Princeton University graduate student, in August 2016, Wang was preparing to return home from Tehran after about four months of studying Persian language and history.  Iranian intelligence called him in for questioning and confiscated his passport and computers.  Less than three weeks later, authorities arrested him. "They told me explicitly that ‘you're here because you're American, because we want a deal to get Iranian prisoners back and to get Iranian assets back from the United States,’" said Wang.  "Obama engagement didn't change Iranian behavior for better, but actually aggravated its malign behavior."