Another hostage in Iran
Jason Rezaian, the Teheran bureau chief of the Washington Post, wrote two interesting stories from Iran last July—about fear of an epic water shortage and the cult popularity of baseball. Then Rezaian disappeared from the pages of the Post . . . because he disappeared into an Iranian prison.
After nearly 10 months in custody and just one substantive meeting with a lawyer, Rezaian, an American citizen, is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday in Iran’s Revolutionary Court on espionage charges. He’s accused of spying for the United States and “propaganda activities against the system.” He’s also charged with gathering information “about internal and foreign policy” and providing it to “individuals with hostile intent.”
It sounds like he’s accused of the crime of being a reporter. No evidence has been presented against Rezaian, leaving little doubt he’s on trial because elements of Iran’s leadership want it that way. He is a hostage.
It seems obvious the Post correspondent is being railroaded. What no one outside Iran has figured out is why Rezaian was singled out, what the presumed message is behind it all.
The most likely scenario is one familiar to Iran watchers: some kind of dispute in the constant tug of war between religious hard-liners and comparatively moderate government figures. The conservatives, including the intelligence services, are generally suspicious of Iran’s engagement with the outside world—that includes the nuclear talks, academic exchanges and the work of foreign reporters. Both sides compete for the support of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Some Iranian news reports accused Rezaian of being a spy with links to Iranian expatriates in the U.S. and Europe. Rezaian, 39, born in California to an Iranian father, is a vulnerable target because Iran’s government doesn’t recognize dual nationality. He is being treated as Iranian.
Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, a journalist who writes for an Abu Dhabi newspaper, also faces prosecution, along with an unidentified photographer. They are being tried in Revolutionary Court, which is distinct from the regular court system. The judge in the case, Abolghassem Salavati, is no friend of justice. He has been known as “the hanging judge” since he imposed death sentences on at least a half-dozen defendants accused of participating in protests after disputed 2009 elections.
American reporters abroad, and reporters in many countries that don’t protect press freedoms, take risks every day to report the news. They should not be punished for doing their jobs. Iran’s prosecution of these cases is shameful.