Broadcast of a Television Documentary Against Two Individuals Accused of 'Espionage' in Iran

Iran's state television has aired a seven-minute documentary about two Iranian-British and Chinese-American citizens accused of 'espionage'. According to the Associated Press, the airing of this documentary is intended to pressure London and Washington. Based on a report from the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the documentary features images of Xiao Wang, a Chinese-American citizen accused of 'espionage' under the guise of scientific and research activities targeting specific institutions in Iran. On Monday, December 6, IRIB released segments of this documentary related to the American citizen, introducing him as a PhD student at Princeton University who obtained his master's degree from Harvard University. The news agency claims that these two universities are affiliated with 'U.S. security agencies and the Council on Foreign Relations', providing necessary information to their students in the form of thesis topics and sending them to countries where Washington does not have diplomatic facilities to gather information for them. The report also alleges that the financial resources for research at these two universities are provided by the 'Bijan and Shervin Masour Rahmani Center', which has close ties with 'Baha'is, opposition groups, royalists, and even the CIA'. IRIB has implicated these two universities in instigating 'color revolutions' in Eastern Bloc countries and former Soviet republics. According to the report, the nature of Xiao Wang's activities, who came to Iran as a Persian language learner and cultural and tourism researcher, became 'sensitive' during his first trip due to attempts to obtain information from specific collections. However, due to what was described as 'resistance from the security departments' of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Parliamentary Archive, and the Library of the Parliament, he did not succeed in obtaining specific information during his first trip. Nevertheless, according to this documentary, he was arrested during his second trip when he intended to smuggle '4,500 archival documents' out of the country. The film questions the opening of doors by the U.S. to Iranian students and the easier dispatch of American researchers and professors to Iran, which has been on the agenda of the U.S. State Department for several years, casting doubt on this academic exchange and noting that such visits have not always ended in 'learning science'. In the documentary aired by Iran's state television, this Chinese-American researcher is seen in the special clothing of Iranian prisoners in court, and while other individuals present in the court are not visible, a person who appears to be the judge asks him what his specific information-gathering intentions were. In part of this documentary, the researcher states that he dealt with the National Archives, the National Library, a professor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Library and Archive of the Iranian Parliament, and that 'the more information America has about Iran, the better it will be for policymaking regarding Iran'. He adds that the Council on Foreign Relations and U.S. security agencies 'have explicitly stated that they intend to facilitate educational and academic connections between Princeton University and educational centers in Iran'. He further mentions that 'when I returned to America in March, I spoke with someone responsible for programs at American Councils about my experiences in Iran'. The IRIB reporter uses this researcher's statements to suggest that these individuals are directly or indirectly serving U.S. security agencies, and although 'he claims he wanted to study Iranian culture, the keywords he searched for indicated otherwise'. The report claims that Xiao Wang was investigating 'how Iran has experienced government collapse throughout history? Who were the influential figures in this collapse? Why does the religious government in Iran persist? And what factors lead to dissatisfaction, violence, and civil war?'. These accusations against the American researcher come at a time when his wife told the Associated Press that she has not yet spoken with the U.S. State Department about this documentary but considers the accusations against her husband to be incorrect. The documentary also features images of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an Iranian-British citizen who worked for the Thomson Reuters Foundation. According to the Associated Press, it seems that these images were broadcast to pressure both the U.S. and Britain, which must pay Iran $530 million for her release. The case of Ms. Zaghari has recently become a hot topic following statements from the British Foreign Secretary about her. Boris Johnson stated that Zaghari was engaged in journalism in Iran, but the Thomson Reuters Foundation denied this and accused Johnson of making statements that could lead to an increased prison sentence for Ms. Zaghari. Zaghari, who has been accused of 'soft overthrow' against the Iranian government, traveled to Iran in 2016 with her young daughter to visit family, where she was arrested and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Tehran. She is now facing new charges that could lead to an additional 16 years in prison. In addition to Robert Levinson, who has been missing in Iran for years and whose fate Tehran officials claim they do not know, several other Iranian-American citizens are also detained in the country, including Baqer Namazi, an 81-year-old former UNICEF employee, and his son Siamak Namazi. In this context, the Tehran prosecutor has stated that appeals regarding the sentences of the Namazis, Wang, and Zaka have been rejected. The U.S. Senate has called for the release of American citizens imprisoned in Iran. Nazanin Zaghari, according to her husband, has been accused of committing new crimes.