Iran says verdict reached on Washington Post correspondent

Iran issued a verdict Sunday in the espionage trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, according to local media reports. The Washington Post reporter has been detained in Iran for 444 days as of October 9 – the identical size of time dozens of Americans have been held through the Iran hostage disaster that concluded in 1981, his employer reported this week. “So the court waits and if it doesn’t receive an appeal… the verdict becomes final”. Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron has called the trial a “sham” and the treatment of Rezaian a “travesty”.

ISNA quoted the judiciary spokesman, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, as saying that “this person has been sentenced, but I don’t know the details of the verdict”.

“This vague and puzzling statement by the government of Iran only adds to the injustice that has surrounded Jason’s case since his arrest 15 months ago”.

During his incarceration, Jason Rezaian has lost almost 50 pounds and suffered several significant infections, physical strain, and prolonged psychological abuse. He was tried on espionage and related charges in a sporadic set of hearings before a judge who has been internationally censured for imposing extremely harsh sentences. Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani last month hinted at the possibility of releasing Rezaian in exchange for Iranian prisoners in the United States, but officials have downplayed the possibility of any such swap.