CGTN America
FILE – In this photo April 11, 2013 file photo, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for The Washington Post, smiles as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Iran’s official news agency is quoting a prosecutor saying a detained Washington Post journalist has been indicted and will stand trial.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi on Wednesday saying that Jason Rezaian, the newspaper’s bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, had been indicted. He is an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship.
Rezaian has been held since July 22, 2014. The IRNA report did not disclose what charges he faces. However, the report says he will stand trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court, which mostly hears cases involving security offenses.
In Sept. 2014, CCTV America’s Asieh Namdar interviewed Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and asked him when Rezaian would be released.
At the time, Zarif said he knew Rezaian and that he had tried to help expedite the process of investigation in this case, but cautioned that the Iranian judiciary is “totally independent” from the executive branch of the government.
He said the prosecutors office was currently investigating him for allegations that Zarif was not privy to.
“I hope that he can be cleared of all the charges and he can be released soon,” Zarif told CCTV America.
Story compiled with information from CCTV America and AP reports.
