Jason Rezaian

His late father, Taghi, immigrated to the U.S. from Iran in 1959; and belonged to a Shia family who were caretakers of the Shia shrine in Mashhad, Iran.

His mother, Mary (née Breme), of Evangelical Christian heritage originally from Chicago, moved from the U.S. to Turkey following her husband's death.

Rezaian also has one brother.

Jason Rezaian (born on March 16, 1976) is an Iranian-American journalist who served as Tehran bureau chief for The Washington Post.

Rezaian was born March 15, 1976, and raised in Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He attended Wheaton Central High School in Wheaton, Illinois, in his freshman and sophomore years from 1990 to 1992, before transferring to Marin Academy in San Rafael, California, where he got his high school diploma.

He holds both American and Iranian citizenship.

Rezaian had been based in Iran as a journalist since 2009.

Before becoming the Post's Tehran correspondent in 2012, he wrote for other publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle and Monocle.

His wife, Yeganeh Salehi, is an Iranian citizen who is a correspondent for The National, a newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates.

After Salehi was arrested, her press credentials were revoked.

On July 22, 2014, Iranian authorities arrested Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and took the couple into custody, accusing them of espionage.

While Salehi – also a journalist – was released on October 6, Rezaian remained in custody at Evin Prison, a detention center in Tehran known for housing political prisoners and intellectuals.

On the night of July 22, 2014, Iranian government security forces raided Rezaian's Tehran residence and arrested him and his wife.

The agents reportedly confiscated laptops, books, and notes.

In a separate raid that night, security forces also arrested a female photojournalist and her husband, both American citizens.

The Washington Post first reported news of the arrests on July 24.

On July 25, Tehran Justice Department head Gholam-Hossein Esmaili confirmed the arrests.

Esmaili said, "We are now in the investigation phase. I think we will be able to provide more information after technical investigation and questioning."

He did not say why they had been arrested.

He added, "The security forces have the whole country under surveillance and control the activities of enemies. They will not permit our country to become a land where our enemies and their agents carry out their activities."

The photojournalist and her husband were released within weeks, while Rezaian's wife, Salehi, was released on bail on October 6.

Iranian authorities did not disclose Rezaian's whereabouts or welfare, nor did they reveal the circumstances surrounding the couple's arrest and subsequent detention.

Officials from the Iranian judiciary and Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance have reportedly told journalists that the case is "security"-related and investigating it "is dangerous".

On December 7, the U.S. State Department announced Rezaian had been charged by an Iranian court with unspecified offenses.

According to State, he was denied bail, he has not been allowed to speak with his attorney, and the Iranian government has repeatedly denied requests by Secretary John Kerry for consular services via the Swiss Embassy, the U.S. protecting power in Iran.

In a statement, Kerry reiterated calls to release Rezaian, as well as Amir Hekmati, Saeed Abedini, and Robert Levinson – three other Americans also detained in Iran as of that date.

He was convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in Iran in 2015.

After nine months, it was made public on April 20, 2015, that Iranian authorities had indicted him on four charges, including espionage and "propaganda against the establishment".

His trial began on May 26, 2015.

His conviction was announced on October 11, 2015.

On November 22, 2015, Iranian officials said he had been sentenced to a prison term, the length of which was not disclosed.

On January 15, 2015, an Iranian prosecutor told state media that Rezaian would stand trial in Iran in a Revolutionary Court on unspecified charges.

A few weeks later on February 1, his family announced the case would be heard by Judge Abolghassem Salavati, a controversial figure in the Iranian court system known for handing down harsh sentences (including extensive prison terms, lashings, and death) to political prisoners and those regarded as a threat to national security.

On March 1, after more than seven months in detainment, Rezaian was granted permission to hire a court-approved attorney.

On April 20, 2015, The Washington Post reported that Iranian authorities were charging Rezaian with espionage and three other serious crimes, including "collaborating with hostile governments" and "propaganda against the establishment."

On January 16, 2016, it was announced that he had been released.

Rezaian was the 2016 recipient of the McGill Medal for Journalistic Courage from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Rezaian wrote a book, Prisoner: My 544 Days in an Iranian Prison, published in January 2019, detailing his experience in captivity in Iran.

He released a podcast, 544 days, in 2021.