× Princeton grad student believed harmony with Iran was possible, but 40 months as a hostage changed his mind Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Princeton grad student believed harmony with Iran was possible, but 40 months as a hostage changed his mind John SextonPosted at 5:15 pm on March 17, 2021 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter The Atlantic published a story today about a Princeton grad student named Xiyue Wang. Wang was born in China and moved to the U.S. when he was 20. He became a naturalized citizen and did graduate work at Harvard. After a year working for the Red Cross in Afghanistan he was admitted to a PhD program at Princeton in 2013. Then in 2015 Iran granted him a Visa to do historical research and study Persian in Tehran. At first everything seemed to be going very well but four months after he arrived he was put in prison. He would remain a hostage of the Iranian regime for the next 40 months. But in that time he says he came to see Iran for what it really is.