Zarif: We are trying to resolve the case of Rezaian humanely

Iran's Foreign Minister commented on the case of Jason Rezaian, the imprisoned journalist of The Washington Post in Iran, stating, "We are trying to resolve this issue from a humanitarian perspective." According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday, October 25, during a preliminary meeting of the Munich Security Conference in Tehran, that "the charges against him have a serious judicial process, and we are trying to solve this problem from a humanitarian perspective." In this context, the Associated Press reported on Sunday that Mr. Zarif did not provide any further details about the specifics of these charges. According to this report, Rezaian, who has been detained for a year on espionage charges, was recently tried in the Revolutionary Court, but the details of the ruling issued by the court have not yet been published. In this regard, Human Rights Watch announced last week that "the Iranian judiciary must annul the punishment of Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist, which was issued after an unfair trial. Judicial officials deprived him and his defense attorney of having free and sufficient contact to prepare his defense during this trial." The report adds that the court has not yet provided any explanation to his family or defense attorney regarding the crimes he has been convicted of or the severity of his punishment. He has twenty days to appeal the ruling. Joe Stark, Deputy Director for the Middle East at Human Rights Watch, stated, "Although the time to request an appeal is currently passing, officials still do not provide any information about the crimes for which Rezaian has been convicted to his defense attorney. Iranian officials must fairly and transparently administer justice and annul this apparently unjust conviction." Currently, three American citizens named Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, and Saeed Abedini are in Iranian prisons, all charged with security offenses. John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, announced on October 22 that "during months of negotiations over the nuclear program with Tehran, the issue of freeing American citizens imprisoned in Iran has been raised in every meeting, but Washington did not want the fate of negotiations to hinge on this issue." Recently, Nozar Shafiei, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced that the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guard reported to this commission that Jason Rezaian is "an operative executing the thinking of those American senators who believe that if the U.S. can restore its relations with Iran to pre-revolution levels, the Iranian government can be easily toppled." He added that according to the Revolutionary Guard's report, Jason Rezaian is "a significant element for Americans," and therefore they are "making great efforts for his release." Jason Rezaian, along with his wife and two others, was arrested on July 22, 2014, in Tehran. Shortly after that, his wife and friend were released, but Jason remained in custody. Rezaian is accused of "espionage through collecting decisions of the country regarding domestic and foreign policy issues and cooperating with hostile governments." In this context, Leila Ahmadi, Rezaian's defense attorney, told the Associated Press that "political issues are complicating his legal case. This is not normal. A week after the court's ruling, the issued verdict should be delivered to the defendant's lawyer, but it has not been provided yet." Last month, Hassan Qashqavi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular and Legal Affairs, also announced that 19 Iranian citizens are currently imprisoned in the United States for violating U.S. sanctions, and 60 other Iranians are imprisoned for ordinary crimes. His statements, which have been echoed by several Iranian officials, have fueled speculation that Iran is seeking a "prisoner swap" with the U.S., although Iran itself has denied this. In this context, Kerry stated: "We did not want the overall nuclear agreement to hinge on the release of Americans." The Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee condemned the ruling against Rezaian, and The Washington Post protested the ruling against Jason Rezaian.