December 12, 2014
Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was charged Saturday, more than four months after his arrest, the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the case as telling it.
As of the Iran Times deadline four days later, the government in Tehran had neither confirmed nor denied the Post report.
The Post said the nature of the charges was not known.
Rezaian’s family has hired an attorney, but the lawyer has never been allowed to visit him, the Post said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said, “I am personally dismayed and disturbed at these reports as I have repeatedly raised Jason’s case, and the other cases of detained and missing US citizens, directly with Iranian officials.” He said the fact that Rezaian has not been allowed to see his lawyer “is a clear violation of Iran’s own laws.”
The Post quoted its source as saying Rezaian spent some 10 hours in court Saturday while a judge reviewed his case and that he was accompanied by a translator because he cannot read Farsi.
It quoted the source as adding Rezaian had signed a document saying he understood that he was being charged.
His family is concerned about his health, saying he has high blood pressure, multiple infections and back issues on top of the stress of imprisonment.
Rezaian was arrested June 22 with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, a reporter for The National in the UAE, who is an Iranian national, as well as their photographer and her husband, both of whom are understood to be dual Iranian-Americans nationals. The other three have all been released. Rezaian wife’s is the only person who has been allowed to visit him.