Zhiyu Wang: The Islamic Republic regime has always ignored international norms; ending hostage-taking should be a prerequisite for any agreement with Iran
Zhiyu Wang, an American academic researcher who was imprisoned in Iran for 40 months, says Iran should not be allowed to continue taking hostages without punishment.
Zhiyu Wang, who was released last year through the efforts of President Donald Trump's administration and returned to the United States, wrote in an article published by Bloomberg on Monday, December 7, that a year ago on this day, he was released from Iran and placed as an American hostage in a prisoner exchange.
He wrote that he left Iran having discovered that “the Iranian regime is stubbornly hostile to the West, especially the United States, and hates diplomacy.”
Zhiyu Wang says at least 11 other foreign nationals whose names have been made public are imprisoned in Iran. He says eight of them are in prison and three are under house arrest.
Zhiyu Wang, referring to Ahmadreza Jalali, a Swedish-Iranian researcher sentenced to death in Iran, said he was a cellmate of Mr. Jalali. According to Mr. Wang, the death sentence was activated ahead of the trial of an Iranian diplomat in Europe on charges of attempted bombing in 2018.
In another part of her article, referring to the case of Ms. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, Zhiyu Wang says that when a foreign hostage is sent back to her country, “the regime simply captures new [hostages] to replenish its stockpile. This vicious cycle repeats itself.”
According to the researcher, the Islamic Republic of Iran's hostage-taking policy and hostility to diplomacy have been in place since its formation and the occupation of the US embassy. Mr. Wang says that the Islamic Republic's regime has always ignored international norms and has consistently rejected the use of diplomacy and dialogue as a means to resolve disputes between countries.
Foreign academics, independent businessmen, journalists, and sometimes tourists are the preferred targets of the regime's "hostage-taking" policy, says Zhiyu Wang, because they are usually unknown inside Iran and lack political support.
The researcher has called on the international community, including the United States and European countries, Britain, Canada, and Australia, to work together to increase targeted sanctions and stop hostage-taking in Iran through a multi-dimensional agreement. He says that stopping the hostage-taking by the Islamic Republic should be a prerequisite for any future political agreement.
