Trial of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian continues in Iran

Rezaian, who faces charges that include espionage and distributing propaganda against Iran, was arrested last July, along with his wife Yeganeh Salehi, The National’s reporter in Iran.

Mary Rezaian, mother of detained Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, speaks with the media as Jason's wife Yeganeh, a correspondent for The National,  weeps, after a hearing at the a court in Tehran on Monday, July 13. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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ABU DHABI // The trial of the Washington Post's Iran correspondent, Jason Rezaian, resumed in Tehran on Monday, nearly a year after he was detained.

Rezaian was arrested last July, along with his wife Yeganeh Salehi, The National's reporter in Iran. Salehi, who still faces trial and is barred from leaving the country, was seen outside the court, along with Rezaian's mother, Mary.

The two women were not allowed to attend the closed doors hearing, which was held as Iran appeared on the verge of announcing a final deal with world powers on the country’s controversial nuclear programme.

Mary Rezaian told reporters she did not know if the timing of the hearing had to do with the talks, which are being held in Vienna. It was also unclear if the US was pushing for Rezaian’s release as part of a broader deal with Iran.

“I do know that there has been effort made on all levels throughout the United States and other countries,” she said.

She was quoted by Iran’s ISNA news agency as saying she believed her son could be granted bail. She did not know when the trial would resume, according to the report. A judiciary spokesman said a date would be announced later.

The 39-year-old Rezaian faces charges that include espionage and distributing propaganda against Iran. However, critics of the trial say that no evidence of this has been presented. A female photojournalist detained at the same time as Rezaian and Salehi has also been released, but still faces trial.

His brother Ali told Reuters Television in May that Rezaian, the Post’s Tehran bureau chief, had lost 18kg in prison.

The hearing was only the third to be held since Rezaian was detained, with the previous two sessions being held last May and June. He is being tried at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

No information about Monday’s proceedings was released.

“The trial will continue and when the verdict is issued we will announce it to people,” judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said, according to the semi-official ILNA agency.

The US has criticised the trial’s “complete lack of transparency”, and says Tehran should drop the “absurd” spying charges that Rezaian’s brother called “laughable”.

* With reporting from the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse