Third Court Session of Jason Rezaian Held in Tehran

The third court session of Jason Rezaian, the Iranian-American journalist for The Washington Post, was held on Tuesday in Tehran. According to the IRNA news agency, this session took place in Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran, presided over by Abolghasem Salavati, and was closed to the public. The second session of Jason Rezaian's trial was held on June 8. The head of the Tehran judiciary previously stated that the long gap between the second and third sessions was due to the lack of available space in the Revolutionary Court to handle this case. The spokesperson for the judiciary had previously stated that the charges against the Washington Post journalist were espionage on behalf of the U.S. and propaganda activities against the regime. Jason Rezaian was arrested on July 22, 2014, along with his journalist wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photographer colleagues in Tehran. Ms. Salehi and the two other journalists were released after a while, but Jason Rezaian remains in prison. Previously, Ali Rezaian, Jason's brother, told Radio Farda: 'The psychological pressure on [Jason] to confess to something he did not do is very high. He is under pressure because he knows that the rights he should have in a judicial system are not granted to him.' Ali Rezaian added, 'The U.S. State Department says it has discussed this matter and states that it is the only other important issue that, although separate from nuclear negotiations, is raised with Iranian officials. We have not seen the progress we sought in this regard, and the Iranians have not done what they should have. They do not have a case against Jason because he has not committed any wrongdoing, and if he had, it would have been announced by now.' Last June, members of the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling for the release of three American prisoners in Iran.