How I Was Accused and Why I Filed a Lawsuit? An Interview with Jason Rezaian

In its 40-year history, especially in the last decade, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly used the imprisonment of dual citizens as a means to advance its goals. Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post in Tehran, was accused of espionage and sent to Evin Prison. He spent 18 months in prison without any evidence or indication of the espionage charges against him. Mr. Rezaian was fortunate to escape with the help of the then U.S. government during the JCPOA negotiations, but this story has a long history in post-revolution Iran, and currently, other dual citizens are awaiting freedom in Iranian prisons. I spoke with Mr. Rezaian on the occasion of the release of his memoir about his time in prison on this week's Paradox program. Given the humorous nature of the Paradox program, this conversation is informal and conversational. How many days were you in prison? Hello, how are you? I was exactly 544 days. What will your book say that we don't know? What did you write in your book that hasn't been said in the news about you so far? A lot of things. First about my life; why I went to Iran, why I worked there for several years, my experience in Evin Prison, and the story of the exchange that freed me. Was there anything you wanted to leave out of your book? Or did you write everything from A to Z? I think I wrote everything because this story was very interesting, and the things they said against me were very ridiculous. Is it an interesting story now?! Exactly. Everyone who reads it will see that it reads like a novel. But forgive me, the things that were there were real, and that's what I wrote. When we were in prison, we tore ourselves apart; I remember I dedicated a segment to you in a TV program I had, Politics, because at that time they were saying a lot that they had captured a spy. I remember I said, 'This guy's name is Jason, not James. He's not James Bond.' Did you ever see that program? Where did you see it? When I was released, they took us to Germany, to an American military hospital in a city called Landstuhl. There my brother gave me an iPhone, and we looked at it. There is a photo in the Washington Post where I am laughing in this photo. In that scene that the Washington Post published, I was watching that program, which was very funny, and I was very happy that at that time you and many of our compatriots who are across the water would not do what they did to us. Why do you think they arrested you? You seemed like a harmless person who was just doing your job as a journalist. Why did they arrest you? Look, there are various theories. I think some people in the regime did not want the JCPOA to succeed, and the IRGC wanted to sabotage negotiations with the U.S. and Europe, so they did several things; one was that they arrested me and saw that there was a lot of noise in the world. After all, you know they have a 40-year history of taking hostages. So they thought that as someone who was both an Iranian citizen and an American citizen, I might have some value for them in negotiations. I think that was it. Now, Jason, you filed a very big lawsuit; I don't know if you sued the Islamic Republic. What's the story of this lawsuit, how much is it, what is it like? Look, I filed a lawsuit in an American court, why? Because what they did to us was truly an international crime. And my lawsuit is about the story of the Iranian court. I wanted to file a complaint and present my story in a real court, meaning an American court. We requested damages of up to one billion dollars, but this one billion dollars, if the court rules in our favor, will not come to us; there are limits... Can we also put our name on it? We are also plaintiffs. We are suing both the IRGC and the Islamic Republic. Can we also come and sue? Yeah, come to court; let's all sue each other. In America, we have something called class action lawsuits. We are millions of people who can sue that government. What stage is your lawsuit at now? I went to court a while ago. I am waiting for the court's ruling, and there are many things about the court that I cannot say until the judge makes it public. Was life in prison better or now? Is that really a question? No, I mean life outside of prison these days isn't interesting either. Life is hard everywhere, but free life is very beautiful, and I enjoy every moment of what we have now. To prove that you are a spy, what evidence did they present to you? What did they say? How did they say you were a spy? Look, a while after they arrested us, I think it was about forty days later, we were in a meeting with my wife, and I was making a joke in front of the interrogators, who claim they are experts. I said, 'Everyone around the world says this regime, the Islamic Republic, is very bad, very awful, but I say the opposite; it's a very good regime; in forty days, I lost 20 kilos with this regime! Which regime gives you such results?' Look, anyone who goes to prison in the Islamic Republic loses a lot of weight. Really, the images you see of people before they went to prison and after they came out... What do they do that people lose so much weight? What did they do to you? Didn't they give you food to eat? The food was very little; it wasn't very interesting, and the stress you have during that time has a huge impact on a person's metabolism. I don't know... I just know that the only thing I miss is that belly I had in prison, which was a little smaller! Did you quickly return to your original place? Yeah, burritos and pizza and pasta and everything; the good thing about America is around my belly now. Look, to prove that you are a spy, what evidence did they give you in prison? What did they say? I don't know if our compatriots know what Kickstarter is. Yeah, it's a website where people put their projects to raise money and do them. Yes, well, I had a project a few years before that, in 2010, where I wanted to start an avocado farm in Iran, and they said that this avocado is a code, and until you tell us what its code is, you won't be released. That was the first thing, and they said a lot of silly things, but they never had anything called evidence against us. They had no documents? No documents... Now let's talk a little about your book. When did your book come out? It came out last week, on January 22, and it's been about eight or nine days since it's been on the market. Look, Jason, why do you think people should read your book? I think anyone who wants to know something about Iran... everyone thinks [in this book] I only talked about prison. No, this book is about my entire life and my experience as an Iranian in America, what I have seen in the past forty years and why I went there. I think it will be very interesting for Americans. Why would an American who had all the opportunities and freedom decide to go to Iran and send reports about Iran to America? Now that I say it, I think the brothers there think, 'Oh, he's a spy.' No, I was a journalist from the beginning and wanted to show a country that I love to an American audience. And I did that, and I think that in this book, something will become clear to the reader. How are you doing these days, Jason? How's life? I'm much better. It's been almost three years since we were released, and there are many things still in my mind that upset me, but I really feel better. Thank you. When you came out of prison and in the early days when you came here, the psychological effect that prison had on you - now I am sure that these effects are still there - how did you manage to help yourself get better and not be so troubled? First of all, I gave myself time and opportunity to get better. I had no rush to return to work or write a book or tell my story because I didn't even know what I thought about it. For a long time, almost a year and a half, I had nightmares at night. Now that has decreased a lot. I don't know; I have very good friends and family who help me a lot, and with the support of my wife, I think I can do almost anything. Jason, I ask a question to everyone who comes on my programs, and I think you are actually a very suitable person to answer this question. My last question is always this: personally - this is no longer related to being a journalist - you, Jason, in that moment of life when you fell and feel despair and hopelessness and think that it’s all over and you can never get up like before and continue life, what lifts you up? What gives you the motivation to be hopeful again, to move on, and even to succeed? The first thing is that I really go back to my wife and see my family, and the second is that I tell this story loudly and seriously to the world, and for me, this was a fire under my feet.