For all those that believe negotiations of Americans in Iranian prisons such be different, I have a scenario for you.
What if the Iranian nuclear talks fell apart? What then happens to the Americans hanging on that agreement to come home?
I completely understand the frustration journalists are feeling about Jason's status. There are appeals courts in Iran that will no doubt lower his sentence. It has worked that way in the past. But, if Jason is expected to be a part of a prisoner swap then his wellness and status is very important to Iran. The journalist community has some reassurance through his importance to international relations.
For as much as the community wants to decompress over Jason's detaining, it is important to negotiate human beings for human beings and not human beings for nuclear capacity. It would be nice if it was all over by now, but, it is better to have negotiations separately from other international affairs.
October 12, 2015
By Carol Morello and William Braigin
Jason Rezaian, (click here) the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran imprisoned for more than 14 months, has been convicted in an espionage trial that ended two months ago, Iranian State television has reported.
News of a verdict in Tehran's Revolutionary Court initially came early Sunday, but court spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei did not specify the judgment. In a state TV report late Sunday, Mohseni-Ejei said definitively that Rezaian was found guilty.
But many details remained unknown. Rezaian faced four charges — the most serious of which was espionage — and it was not immediately clear whether he was convicted of all charges. Rezaian and The Post have strongly denied the accusations, and his case has drawn wide-ranging denunciations including statements from the White House and media freedom groups.
What if the Iranian nuclear talks fell apart? What then happens to the Americans hanging on that agreement to come home?
I completely understand the frustration journalists are feeling about Jason's status. There are appeals courts in Iran that will no doubt lower his sentence. It has worked that way in the past. But, if Jason is expected to be a part of a prisoner swap then his wellness and status is very important to Iran. The journalist community has some reassurance through his importance to international relations.
For as much as the community wants to decompress over Jason's detaining, it is important to negotiate human beings for human beings and not human beings for nuclear capacity. It would be nice if it was all over by now, but, it is better to have negotiations separately from other international affairs.
October 12, 2015By Carol Morello and William Braigin
Jason Rezaian, (click here) the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran imprisoned for more than 14 months, has been convicted in an espionage trial that ended two months ago, Iranian State television has reported.
News of a verdict in Tehran's Revolutionary Court initially came early Sunday, but court spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei did not specify the judgment. In a state TV report late Sunday, Mohseni-Ejei said definitively that Rezaian was found guilty.
But many details remained unknown. Rezaian faced four charges — the most serious of which was espionage — and it was not immediately clear whether he was convicted of all charges. Rezaian and The Post have strongly denied the accusations, and his case has drawn wide-ranging denunciations including statements from the White House and media freedom groups.
