(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - Last year's election of Hasan Rouhani as president of Iran was supposed to inaugurate an era of moderation for the Islamic Republic. Try telling that to Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian. Rezaian, the Post's Tehran correspondent and a U.S. citizen, was arrested with his wife Yeganeh Salehi in late July and held in solitary confinement, in a bed-less cell, in Tehran's infamous Evin prison. Iranian authorities have given no reason for his arrest. Rezaian's imprisonment is a reminder of how little has changed in Iran under its new leadership. Rouhani appointed as his Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, previously known for being deputy intelligence minister when thousands of political prisoners were killed in the late 1980s. Rezaian's arrest is a reminder that a regime that is so capricious in dealing with foreign reporters cannot be treated as a trustworthy partner in nuclear negotiations.
2014-12-26 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive