The State Department acknowledged Tuesday that despite its supposed diplomatic prowess, it can’t do much more than “monitor” the espionage trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and hope it works out for the best.
“We’re aware of reports that U.S. citizen Jason Rezaian’s trial has begun in Iran,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke told reporters Tuesday. “We continue to monitor this as closely as possible, and we continue to call for all of the absurd charges to be dropped and for Jason Rezaian to be released immediately.”
But Rezaian’s trial is closed to the public, which Rathke admitted makes it almost impossible to monitor. When asked if State would mostly be reading the same Iranian news agencies that everyone else would be looking at, Rathke said, “Yeah.”
He also said he’s not aware that State has any contact with Rezaian’s defense team.
Rathke said the “closed nature” of the trial “adds to our concern,” and said it fits with a pattern Iran has of failing to follow due process. But he said the U.S. doesn’t see this same disturbing pattern in the nuclear talks it’s engaged in with Iran.
“We distinguish the P5+1 nuclear talks,” he said.
Rezaian was detained in Iran almost a year ago for charges related to espionage. According to the Washington Post, he is the Post’s bureau chief and is a citizen of both the U.S. and Iran.
