Third closed session in trial of US reporter begins in Iran

Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported Monday that a court has begun the third session in the trial of the detained Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian.

The report did not elaborate.

Iran held two sessions for Rezaian in May and June in a Revolutionary Court on charges including espionage and distributing propaganda against the Islamic Republic. US officials, the Post and rights groups have criticized his trial.

Rezaian, his wife and two photojournalists were detained on July 2014 in Tehran. All were later released except Rezaian, who has been held for over 300 days.

If convicted, he faces 10 to 20 years in prison.

Rezaian is a dual US-Iranian citizen who was born and spent most of his life in the United States. Iran does not recognize other nationalities for its citizens.

Details of Rezaian’s second court hearing in June remain vague, although the semi-official Tasnim news agency said the 39-year-old bureau chief defended himself in English. The agency said a translator later handed Judge Abolghassem Salavati a transcript of Rezaian’s remarks in Persian.

At Rezaian’s first hearing, the court alleged that Rezaian had written to US President Barack Obama and also cited a trip he had made to the US Consulate in Dubai, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported at the time.

Martin Baron, the Post’s executive editor, has disputed the alleged correspondence, saying that Rezaian did not write to the president but merely filled out an online job application for the Obama administration after the 2008 election, a position for which he was never hired. Rezaian’s brother, Ali, said that Jason had visited the consulate in Dubai, but the only reason was to obtain a US visa for his wife.