Arrested US journo a spy: Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — A Washington Post journalist detained in Iran for over eight months is accused of “espionage” and “acting against national security,” the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Sunday.

The report did not elaborate on the source of the information, but the agency is regarded as close to Iran’s hardliners.

Iranian officials have said Jason Rezaian is facing “security” charges and that he will stand trial in the Revolutionary Court, which mainly hears such cases.

Rezaian, along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photojournalists were detained on July 22 in Tehran. All were later released except Rezaian, who is a dual US-Iranian citizen.

The Post, US officials and Rezaian’s mother have called for his release. They could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Fars report alleged that Rezaian had obtained economic and industrial information from Iran and sold it to Americans. It also linked him to Omid Memar-ian, an Iranian opposition journalist based in the US.

“Selling Iran’s economic and industrial information at a time of sanctions is exactly like selling food to the enemy at a time ofwar,” Fars said.

Hardliners in Iran have claimed that Rezaian had access to sensitive information through contacts at the office of President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate.