Jason Rezaian

United States Secretary of State John Kerry stressed that a country without a free and independent press had neither anything to brag about nor the capacity to fulfill its potential. 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated today that he welcomed implementation of the Iran nuclear deal as a “significant milestone” hoping that it will boost peace, security and stability in the region.

“This is a significant milestone that reflects the good faith effort by all parties to fulfil their agreed commitments,” Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

An Iranian court has sentenced Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian to a prison term, the state news agency said on Nov. 22 quoting the judiciary spokesman, a case that is a sensitive issue in contentious U.S.-Iranian relations.

A court in Iran has convicted Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Iran's ISNA news agency said on Oct. 11, but the U.S. newspaper said Tehran was working a political angle by not disclosing details. 

The speaker of Iran's parliament hinted in a US radio interview on Sept.3 at the possibility of a prisoner swap to free detained Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian.

The mother of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, on trial in Iran for espionage, told reporters outside a Tehran court on July 13 that she hopes he will be freed on bail.

The trial of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian on charges of spying on Iran opened behind closed doors in Tehran on May 26, state media reported.

Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian will appear in court on May 26 accused of spying and other crimes against Iran, his lawyer told AFP on May 19.

An Iranian journalist for a reformist news outlet who travelled to Lausanne to report on nuclear talks has applied for political asylum in Switzerland, the foreign ministry in Tehran said.
      
Amir Hossein Motaghi, who worked for the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA), was sacked on March 24 after his bosses learned of his defection, a ministry statement said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif held intensive talks on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme on Jan. 14, returning for an evening session before handing off to their deputies, officials said.