Iran sentences U.S. journalist to jail

A court in Iran has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to an unspecified prison term, the state news agency IRNA said on Sunday, quoting the judiciary spokesman. “Given the fact that the verdict has not been officially handed down, I cannot reveal the details but what I can say is that the accused has been sentenced to prison”, judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said, accordng to Tasnim.

The Associated Press quoted Rezaian’s lawyer, Leila Ahsan, as saying she had not been informed of the verdict.

The 39-year-old, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and a photographer were detained last year in July.

Two other USA citizens – Christian pastor Saeed Adedini and Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant – also are jailed in Iran.

Rezaian’s employer said it had no more information, but called his trial a “sham”.

On October 11, Mohseni-Ejei announced that Iran had issued the verdict against Rezaian, adding that he had 20 days to appeal his verdict.

In response to criticism from a reporter that Obama left Iran detainees “unaccounted for”, the President said in July that his administration was “working diligently to try to get them out”.

Rezaian was convicted of espionage and other charges after sitting through four hearings behind closed doors at Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. Iran does not recognize dual-nationality.

Influential parliament speaker Ali Larijani hinted in September at the possibility that Rezaian could be freed in exchange for Iranian prisoners in the United States, but officials then played down the possibility of such a swap. Iranian state TV has repeatedly called Rezaian an “American spy”.