After more than 500 tension-filled days, The Washington Post has finally managed to wrest its Tehran bureau chief back from the Iranian government. In light of Jason Rezaian’s belated release from Iran’s Evin Prison, The Post is understandably reluctant to dispatch additional correspondents to the country without first ensuring their fair treatment.
Although The Washington Post wants to continue its coverage of Iran, the newspaper’s assignment is pending “some kind of pledge from Tehran not to interfere,” Executive Editor Martin Baron told Voice of America Tuesday.
“Right now we’re not in a position to be able to put a correspondent there,” he said. “We’ve had no discussions with the Iranian government about having another correspondent there, and we would need some good assurances from the government that a correspondent there would not be arrested, as Jason was.”
Rezaian, meanwhile, is taking a well-deserved break from reporting while he acclimates to life on the outside. That hiatus will presumably give him time to tell the full story of his ordeal.
