The State Department on Sunday condemned the Iranian government’s leveling of unspecified charges against Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been detained in the Islamic republic since July.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said he and other top Obama administration officials are “distressed by reports that Jason was not allowed access to an attorney, which is a clear violation of Iran’s own laws and international norms.”
“We call on the Iranian government to drop any and all charges against Jason and release him immediately so that he can be reunited with his family,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement.
“Jason poses no threat to the Iranian government or to Iran’s national security,” he said.
The Post reported that Mr. Rezain, the paper’s bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, was formally charged by Iran on Saturday after a daylong proceeding in a Tehran courtroom.
The 38-year-old Mr. Rezaian, an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship, appeared in court almost five months after he was arrested July 22. The charges were the first against him since the arrest, The Post said.
The newspaper, quoting a source familiar with the case, said the nature of the charges against him was not immediately clear to those not present in the courtroom.
Mr. Rezaian’s wife, journalist Yeganeh Salehi, was also arrested by Iranian authorities in July but was released on bail in October.
At the time, Washington Post Foreign Editor Douglas Jehl said in a statement that it was “long past time for the Iranian authorities to release Jason.”
On Sunday, Mr. Rezaian’s family issued a statement saying, “Our family is deeply saddened,” according to the report by The Post.
The statement continued: “In its ongoing disregard of Iran’s own laws, the Iranian judiciary has continued to deny Jason access to legal representation, denied his request for bail and prevented access to review of his case file.”
“This continued disrespect for Iran’s judicial system should be a concern not only to the international community, who are eagerly awaiting normalization of relations with Iran, but also to all those Iranians who claim that Iran is a country of laws which should be recognized as such by major world powers.”
Mr. Rezaian is the highest-profile American journalist under detention in Iran. His case is sensitive for the Obama administration, which has pursued a delicate diplomatic track with Iran over the past two years as part of an international push to reach a peaceful agreement with the Islamic republic over the nation’s disputed nuclear program.
The Associated Press has reported that State Department officials have repeatedly raised the cases of Mr. Rezaian and other Americans jailed in Iran during talks with Iranian officials about a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear capacity and ease international sanctions on the nation.
But despite the high-level nuclear talks, Mr. Kerry said Sunday that Iranian officials have been unwilling to cooperate on the issue of Mr. Rezaian’s detention.
“The Iranian government continues to deny our repeated requests for consular access to Jason by our protecting power, the Swiss, so we are unable to check on his condition or ensure adequate legal representation,” Mr. Kerry said.
The secretary of state also called for the release of other U.S. citizens held by the government in Tehran, including Amir Hekmati and Saeed Abedini, and called on Iranian authorities to cooperate with Washington in locating Robert Levinson.
The former DEA and FBI agent is believed to have been held hostage by Iran since March 2007.
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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