Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian went on trial behind closed doors in Iran yesterday on charges of spying in a case that has clouded a rapprochement with the US.
Rezaian’s wife, journalist Yeganeh Salehi, appeared in court with her husband and a female news photographer, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
The trial is being held in Branch 15 of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court, which usually presides over political cases or those related to national security.
Photo: AP
The first session ended after about three hours, according to MizanOnline, a news agency linked to the judiciary.
It gave no further details and said the date of the next session would be announced later.
Rezaian, an Iranian-American, has been held since July last year in a politically sensitive case that has unfolded while Iran and world powers conduct nuclear talks.
His wife, who worked for the National, an English-language newspaper based in Abu Dhabi, was arrested along with him, but released on bail after spending two-and-a-half months in custody.
Rezaian, 39, is accused of “espionage, collaboration with hostile governments, gathering classified information and disseminating propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” Rezaian lawyer Leila Ahsan said.
The US and the Washington Post have branded the charges “absurd” and demanded his release.
Tehran does not recognize dual nationality and says the case is a purely Iranian matter.
State media gave no details of yesterday’s hearing and no indication of how long the trial might last.
However, it overlaps with the final stretch of negotiations between Iran and the major powers aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program by a June 30 deadline.
Rezaian’s case has been played out in the Iranian media, where he has been accused of spying and passing information about Iran to US government officials.
Among the offenses he is alleged to have committed is writing a letter to US President Barack Obama.
Post executive director Martin Baron said the newspaper tried to obtain a visa for a senior editor to travel to Iran, but the request was never acknowledged by Iranian authorities.
“There is no justice in this system, not an ounce of it, and yet the fate of a good, innocent man hangs in the balance,” he said. “Iran is making a statement about its values in its disgraceful treatment of our colleague, and it can only horrify the world community.”
Rezaian has been held in the capital’s notorious Evin Prison and his family have frequently spoken of their fears for his health.
His mother, Mary, has been in Iran for the past two weeks awaiting the trial.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not