Post journalist marks one year in Iranian prison

Washington Post Tehran bureau chief Jason Rezaian has been in an Iranian prison for one year as of Wednesday.

One year ago, Iranian authorities arrested Rezaian and his wife Yeganeh Salehi — a fellow journalist — and imprisoned them without charges.

{mosads}Salehi was later released, but Rezaian continues to sit behind bars. He has been incarcerated longer than any other Western journalist in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

His physical condition has worsened over the course of the last year, according to the Post, during which time he has been subjected to harsh interrogations and deprived of facilities including a mattress or a toilet. Legal proceedings have been shrouded in mystery. 

“They had several different charges against him, once of which is espionage, one of which is propaganda,” Rezaian’s brother, Ali, told NBC News on Wednesday. 

“I don’t think that anybody has done enough until he’s out.”

On Wednesday morning, the Post filed a petition before the U.N. Human Rights Council, claiming that Rezaian was subjected to “human rights violations” and seeking “urgent action” to condemn Iran for his imprisonment.

“Jason is being deprived of his basic human rights, and we are asking the U.N. Working Group to render an opinion to Iran and the international community that Jason’s detention is unlawful and that he should be released immediately,” publisher Fred Ryan told the Post.

The correspondent’s anniversary comes in the midst of the Obama administration’s aggressive publicity campaign for its nuclear deal with Iran, providing a wrinkle in the White House’s appeal.

Some critics have accused the White House of effectively abandoning Rezaian and three other Americans in Iran by refusing to make their release a condition of the agreement.

Earlier this month, President Obama visibly bristled when a reporter accused him of being “content” to let Rezaian and the other Americans languish in prison with the nuclear bargain secured. 

“That’s nonsense, and you should know better,” Obama said in response.

“Those issues are not connected,” he added. Linking the two would only give Iran more leverage over the imprisoned Americans, Obama insisted at the time.

During remarks at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ national convention on Tuesday, Obama said that U.S. officials “are not going to relent until we bring home our Americans who are unjustly detained in Iran.

 “Journalist Jason Rezaian should be released,” Obama said.