Washington
Post reporter held in Iran angry, depressed, brother says
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[October 14, 2015]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jason
Rezaian, the Washington Post reporter jailed in an espionage case in
Tehran, heard of his conviction on Iranian state TV and is depressed and
angry about being deprived of information about his case, his brother
said on Tuesday.
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Ali Rezaian said their mother, Mary Breme Rezaian, spoke with the
reporter in a room at Tehran's Evin prison on Tuesday and described
him as "terribly depressed" at the way the case had been handled.
Jason Rezaian, who was arrested in July 2014 and holds U.S. and
Iranian citizenship, was given 20 days to appeal, the Iranian news
service ISNA said on Sunday, when the verdict was announced.
Ali Rezaian said he had no information about any negotiations that
may be going on between the United States and Iran in the case.
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani hinted last month at the
possibility of an exchange for Iranian prisoners in America.
[L1N11A1AS]
The case is a sensitive issue in Washington's contentious
relationship with Tehran. It played out as the United States and
other major powers negotiated a deal in July with Iran to curb its
nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Oct/14/images/ads/current/culligan_sda_festivals_2015.png) Ali Rejaian, who has campaigned for his brother's release and has
been in close contact with the U.S. State Department and an Iranian
lawyer defending his brother, said in an interview with Reuters: "We
are back in a different waiting pattern."
Iran accused Rezaian, 39, of collecting confidential information and
giving it to hostile governments, writing a letter to U.S. President
Barack Obama and acting against Iran's national security.
The Post and his family denounced the charges against Rezaian as
absurd and Post officials have said he is being used as a bargaining
chip. Obama and other senior U.S. officials have said Rezaian
should be released. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on
Tuesday there was "not much clarity" around the case and
administration had not been informed of a verdict through official
channels.
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"As this goes on it becomes more and more difficult for Jason," Ali
Rezaian said. "The ambiguity makes it worse."
He said his brother, who had four court appearances between May and
August, was now being held in a cell with one other prisoner who
speaks neither English nor Farsi in an area for political prisoners
in Evin prison.
His mother and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, are allowed to meet him
every Tuesday at the prison and bring him clothes, food and books,
although sometimes that is refused. "The last few months they have
let them take him food, then today, they refused it," Ali Rezaian
said.
(Reporting by David Storey; Editing by Tom Brown)
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