Jason Rezaian and other Iranian-Americans seem to be pawns as two factions compete for more political leverage.ZOEANN MURPHY/WASHINGTON POST/Reuters
Iranian leaders are being urged to overturn the conviction of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian in an espionage case set against a backdrop of a domestic power struggle between the country's moderate politicians and the Revolutionary Guards.
On Monday, Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron called the guilty verdict against Mr. Rezaian "an outrageous injustice" and "contemptible."
"Iran has behaved unconscionably throughout this case, but never more so than with this indefensible decision by a Revolutionary Court to convict an innocent journalist of serious crimes after a proceeding that unfolded in secret, with no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing," he said in a statement.
"The contemptible end to this 'judicial process' leaves Iran's senior leaders with an obligation to right this grievous wrong."
The newspaper said that Mr. Rezaian's mother and his lawyer Leila Ahsan had gone to court in Tehran Monday seeking an explanation of the court's action, but were turned away.
The announcement Sunday of the verdict came as political infighting between the country's moderate politicians led by President Hassan Rouhani and his hard-line opponents heightened because of the nuclear deal with world powers.
Mr. Rezaian – and two other Iranian-Americans, a Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant Amir Hekmati – seem to be pawns as the two factions are competing for more political leverage. All three men are held by the Revolutionary Guards, the military force that was in charge of the country's nuclear program.
The President's opponents are bitter that they were cut out of the nuclear negotiation process, and fear they might lose their grip on power as the government will continue to engage with world leaders to implement the deal.
The country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on state matters, endorsed the nuclear deal after economic sanctions had crippled Iran's economy. But the rivalry and anger that the deal has unleashed might go beyond the forces that the Ayatollah can control.
The announcement of Mr. Rezaian's conviction came on the same day Parliament discussed the outlines of the nuclear deal amidst howls of outrage on the floor. The outlines of the deal were confirmed with a minimal 139 votes out of 253. The proceeding was broadcast on live radio as members of Parliament publicly made death threats against leading nuclear negotiators. The news agency ISNA reported that one legislator threatened to kill Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Atomic Organization, and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and "bury them under cement at a nuclear site" near the city of Arak.
To further embarrass the government, the military also flexed its muscles on the same day and test fired a long-range missile, defying a UN resolution that has banned Iran from activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The test, a blatant effort to undermine the government, highlighted the kind of assaults the moderates are faced with at home, which prevent them from dealing with human-rights abuses.
Anger over the imprisoned Americans has turned into a festering issue in the estranged relationship between Iran and the United States. To end the dilemma, several Iranian officials, including Mr. Rouhani, have suggested a prisoner swap with the United States. Some 19 Iranians are held in the U.S. on charges of violating U.S. trade sanctions with Iran. Some of them, who are also Iranian-Americans, are held in U.S. prisons on sentences related to arms smuggling or supplying equipment to Iran that can be used in its controversial nuclear program, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Rouhani told CNN in New York late last month that the release of Iranians will provide him with the right circumstances to do everything in his power to secure the release of Americans in Tehran.
With their political influence waning, Iranian hard-liners deem the trade as a sign that would force both Iranian moderates and Western powers to recognize them as a force. Hostage-taking has been hard-liners' state-craft tool in Iran since the 1979 revolution, when they took 52 American diplomats hostage and held them for 444 days. Since then, Iran has taken many dual nationals as hostages on vague charges of spying. Ultimately, it released them and dropped the charges.
All three American prisoners now being held in Iran, possibly in addition to Robert Levinson – an FBI agent who disappeared on Iran's southern Kish Island in 2007 and whose fate is unclear – can face long prison terms in the absence of constructive engagement with Iranian hardliners.
In 2009, Iran arrested three American hikers who had mistakenly crossed into the country from Iraq and charged them with espionage. One was released after 14 months and two others were freed after two years, following a deal brokered by the Sultanate of Oman in return for the release of four Iranians who had been incarcerated in the U.S. and U.K. on weapons smuggling charges.