The wife of a Princeton University graduate student imprisoned for more than a year in Iran is pleading for the government to help set him free. Xiyue Wang was studying the Middle Eastern country’s Qajar dynasty as part of his PhD before he was arrested in August 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for spying under the cover of research. His family has tried to secure his release, though his wife Qu Hua, who has previously said her husband’s health was declining, told NBC that he has attempted to kill himself in prison. She is now asking for help. “I hope President Trump can open up a dialogue with Iranian authorities to discuss a resolution of my husband's case,” she said. The 36-year-old Wang, a China-born U.S. citizen with one 4-year-old boy, studies 19th and 20th Century Eurasia, though authorities in Tehran say that he was acting as an American agent. Footage aired on state television said that Wang tried to access confidential areas of libraries and take 4,500 documents. It showed footage of him in what appears to be a court room. The clip also sees Wang talk about the benefit the U.S. could receive from more knowledge about Iran, though his words are brief and it was not clear in what context he made them.

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