Iran tight-lipped on Post reporter’s verdict

FILE - In this photo April 11, 2013 file photo, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, smiles as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that the verdict against Rezaian has been issued. Rezaian, the Post's Tehran bureau chief, is accused of charges including espionage in a closed-door trial that has been widely criticized by the U.S. government and press freedom organizations. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) FILE - In this photo April 11, 2013 file photo, Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American correspondent for the Washington Post, smiles as he attends a presidential campaign of President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, Iran. Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that the verdict against Rezaian has been issued. Rezaian, the Post's Tehran bureau chief, is accused of charges including espionage in a closed-door trial that has been widely criticized by the U.S. government and press freedom organizations. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

By Associated Press October 11, 2015 2 min read

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran’s judiciary said Sunday that a verdict has been issued in the case of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been detained for more than a year on espionage allegations, but did not say what the verdict is.

“The verdict has been issued,” judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi said in response to a question at a weekly news briefing, according to the official IRNA news agency. It was the first time an Iranian judicial official has confirmed that a verdict has been reached.

Ejehi said the verdict can be appealed within 20 days. He said he did not know if the verdict had been given to Rezaian or his lawyer, Leila Ahsan.

Calls to Ahsan and to Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, were not immediately returned.

Rezaian was detained with his wife and two photojournalists on July 22, 2014. All were later released except Rezaian.