Iran sentences United States reporter to unspecified prison term

An Iranian-American journalist working for The Washington Post newspaper has been jailed in Iran, officials confirmed, the first news of his fate since the end of his secret trial at the beginning of October.

“In brief, it is a prison sentence”, he said, adding that the verdict is “not finalized”. Rezaian, a 39-year-old dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was arrested in July 2014 and accused of espionage.

However, the IRNA and MEHR news agencies report that Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a judiciary spokesman, broke the news during a press conference. “Even after keeping Jason in prison 488 days so far, Iran has produced no evidence of wrongdoing”.

In the indictment, Iranian authorities said Rezaian had written to U.S. President Barack Obama and called it an example of contacting a “hostile government”, the Post said.

The Post has denied the allegations since Rezaian was first put into custody. They’ve included the notion that he would be released as part of the worldwide nuclear negotiations with Iran or during September’s convening of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

It said the vagueness of Ejei’s remarks showed Rezaian’s case was not just about espionage and that the reporter was a bargaining chip in a “larger game”.

The paper’s foreign editor, Douglas Jehl, called the trial and verdict a “sham”, and demanded Rezaian’s release.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department, which also has urged Iran to release Rezaian unconditionally.

Rezaian, who has covered Iran for the Post since 2012, grew up in Marin County, California and spent most of his life in the United States. Back in August, Iranian media had quoted officials there discussing a scenario of swapping Americans held in Iran for 19 Iranians held here in the States, but those talks were never officials confirmed.