New hope for U.S. reporter jailed in Iran?
TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian news agency is quoting the lawyer of a detained Washington Post reporter as saying her client should be freed in the wake of the nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.
The report Tuesday by the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted defense lawyer Leila Ahsan, who represents the Post's Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian. Rezaian has been held for over a year and faces espionage charges in a Revolutionary Court.
Tasnim quoted Ahsan as saying Rezaian's continued detention was "not legal." She also said she expected the court to acquit Rezaian as there was no evidence proving the charges against the Iranian-American journalist.
CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer said the statement from Ahsan appeared to be part of a broader strategy to increase pressure on Iran's leaders and visibility of Rezaian's case.
A friend of Ahsan who spoke to Palmer Tuesday said that, according to a recently amended law in Iran, anyone not suspected of committing murder cannot be detained for more than one year without charge and should be released on bail.
"So Jason should be bailed from jail," Ahsan's friend told Palmer, adding that the lawyer had submitted a request to the court requesting Rezaian's release.
Ahsan was expected to repeat her request Wednesday, "to remind the Revolutionary Court of its obligation under the recent law," her friend told Palmer.
Palmer notes that Ahsan's statement mentions the nuke deal, but does not say what bearing she believes it has on Rezaian's case. The Obama administration has steadfastly rejected any connection between the nuclear negotiations and the detention of Rezaian, or three other Americans in Iranian prisons.
Rezaian's mother, Mary, told Palmer on Tuesday she was unaware of any new initiative by Ahsan to win her son's release, but added that the lawyer has been pushing the court all along to, at the very least, release him on bail pending a verdict.
U.S. officials, the Post and rights groups have criticized his trial.