Story highlights Princeton identifies man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history

He was arrested and put on trial for "gathering information," Iranian news service says

(CNN) An American researcher has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying, according to Iran.

Princeton University identified the man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history. Wang was arrested in Iran last summer while doing scholarly research in connection with his Ph.D. dissertation, a university statement said.

Earlier Sunday, the semi-official news agency Fars News, citing a video statement from Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejheie, initially identified the convicted man's nationality as Iranian-American. Later, Fars News, again citing Mohseni-Ejheie, said he was a citizen of the United States and a country other than Iran.

The dates of Wang's trial have not been disclosed. He was arrested and put on trial for "gathering information," and the sentence can be appealed, said Mohseni-Ejheie, speaking in the Fars News video statement.

According to Iranian law, a convicted person has 20 days to appeal a sentence.

Xiyue Wang is an American citizen who was born in China.

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