Future Still Unclear for Journalist Jason Rezaian

Students of the Middle East, or
anyone who came of age in the
1980s, might recognize the number
444 as the days Iran held Americans
captive after the U.S. embassy fell
during the 1979 Iranian revolution.
To Marty Baron, The Washington
Post's executive editor, the milestone
has a new significance: "Jason was
arrested and imprisoned on July 22
of 2014," he tells Whispers. "We're
getting very close to the number of
days that the American hostages
were held in Iran."

He's referring to Jason Rezaian, the
Post's Tehran correspondent whom
Iran arrested and tried for espionage
in a secret Revolutionary Court just
months ago – a proceeding that
ended with no announced verdict.
Rezaian's family, the U.S. State
Department and senior Post editors
have said that Rezaian was accused
for activities that are normal for a
journalist.
Yet despite a series of meetings with
high-level U.S. and Iranian
diplomatic officials since the arrest –
and Baron personally questioning
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
during last week's United Nations
General Assembly meetings –
Rezaian's freedom seems as distant
as ever. ...