Washington Post Journalist Convicted in Iran of Espionage... Obama Ignores, Sends Iran Money [Video]

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Just peachy. Obama makes a deadly nuclear deal with Iran, who never ever had any intention of honoring one bit of it. They were given everything they asked for and more, including $150 billion to fund their war machine and commit more and deadlier acts of terrorism worldwide. Yesterday, they successfully tested a new precision guided, ballistic missile that can carry multiple warheads and can reach Israel. Today it was announced, the Iranians have convicted Jason Rezaian of espionage. He's a journalist with the Washington Post and is one of a handful of prisoners that Iran has in their clutches that are US citizens and that Obama and Kerry didn't even attempt to get released. In Iran, that sentence is punishable by death. You can bet the political angle that Tehran is working on is either for the release of more terrorists by Obama or for more money and concessions. Of which, I am sure Obama will be more than happy to supply. After all, they are more than just brothers at heart. Blood and theology runs thicker than patriotism and loyalty to your country these days.

From Yahoo! News:

DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A court in Iran has convicted Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, Iran's ISNA news agency said on Sunday, but the U.S. newspaper said Tehran was working a political angle by not disclosing details.

ISNA quoted judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei as saying the California-born Rezaian, the paper's Tehran bureau chief, had 20 days to appeal the verdict. Rezaian was arrested in July 2014. He was accused of espionage.

"He has been convicted. ... But I don't have the details of his verdict," the news agency quoted Ejei as saying.

The case has been a sensitive issue for Washington and Iran, and Sunday's announcement did little to resolve it.

State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States was monitoring the case closely. "We continue to call for all charges against Jason to be dropped and for him to be immediately released," Kirby said earlier.

Iran has accused Rezaian, 39, of collecting confidential information and giving it to hostile governments, writing a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama and acting against national security. The Post has dismissed the charges as absurd. The final hearing in his trial was on Aug. 10.

Earlier, Ejei told a televised news conference that a ruling had been issued but did not say that Rezaian was convicted.

'VAGUE AND PUZZLING'

Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said that that statement from Tehran was "vague and puzzling," and Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl said the vague nature of that announcement showed Rezaian's case was not just about espionage but that the reporter was a bargaining chip in a "larger game."

"It's increasingly clear that the final decision about how Jason's case will be handled will be made by political authorities, not by judicial ones," Jehl told Reuters.

Rezaian's brother Ali had noted on Friday that his brother had been imprisoned for 444 days - the same length of time that American embassy staff were held after the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

In a statement, he said Sunday's initial announcement "follows an unconscionable pattern by Iranian authorities of silence, obfuscation, delay and a total lack of adherence to international law, as well as Iranian law."

Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani hinted last month at the possibility that Rezaian could be freed in exchange for Iranian prisoners in the United States, but officials have played down the possibility of such a swap.

Two other U.S. citizens - Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant - also are being held in Iran. Robert Levinson, a private investigator, disappeared there in 2007.

Their cases have been raised in subsequent talks, including between Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when they met during the U.N. General Assembly in New York last month. No progress was announced.

So, the US is monitoring this case closely and doing what about it precisely? A whole lot of nothing from my perspective. Calling for charges to be dropped in Iran is laughable. It's meaningless. I'm no fan of the Washington Post, but this guy did what journalists do... he reported facts and communicated with sources in and out of the country. That's not espionage, unless you just decide it is. It was stone stupid to go there in the first place. That's asking to wind up in some Iranian hell hole. But regardless, because of utilizing free speech and doing his job, this guy literally has his head on the chopping block. I agree that Rezaian is a bargaining chip in a much bigger game. It will give Obama cover to do something outrageous and infuriating yet again. What's new? These men have been imprisoned in Iran now for years and we do nothing to help them. That's criminal in itself. How long will America stand for this? Iran should have been decimated decades ago. You don't let rogue powers behave like this unchallenged unless you want war, blood and death. Gee, sounds like Obama's wish list.