A Florida graduate student and imam says he's hoping to avoid deportation to Iran, a country he has never lived in or has even visited.

Foad Farahi, 34, a doctoral student at Florida International University, told Tuesday's Miami Herald he was hoping to gain a meeting with U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., about his situation.

The newspaper said Farahi's father was an Iranian who raised him in Kuwait, but because Kuwait doesn't recognize him as a citizen, U.S. authorities are seeking to deport him to Iran, even though he has never been there and doesn't speak Farsi. U.S. officials contend he has violated the terms of his student visa while Farahi says false accusations of support for terrorism were leveled against him when he applied for political asylum.

"All I am asking right now is a right to (an asylum) hearing," he told the Herald, alleging the terror accusations surfaced after he refused to serve as an informant for the FBI. Immigration officials have denied the charges.

FIU Middle East expert Charles MacDonald said Farahi could be arrested if deported to Iran at a time when tensions between Tehran and Washington are on the rise, the Herald reported.