Intro to Iran
& the Rezaians

Quick overview of

Iranian / American relations

Between 1905 and 1911, the Iranian people overthrew the existing monarchy and established a new constitutional monarchy, making them the first and only nation in the Middle East to have a constitution.

This constitution allowed for democratically elected representatives, a prime minister, and a new monarch, who shared power in a system of checks and balances.

In 1953, the CIA & MI6 (in cooperation with
Iranian religious leaders) orchestrated a coup
against the pro-democracy prime minister of Iran
in order to shift power back toward the monarchy.

This was done in response to
Prime Minister Mosaddegh’s support
for nationalizing Iran’s oil supply,
which threatened British and American access
to 1/5th of the world’s oil.

In exchange for American and British support,
the shah allowed BP to continue to control Iran’s oil.
He used his power to crush internal dissent,
including pro-democracy forces for the next 26 years.

In 1979, various groups who opposed the shah
managed to overthrow the monarchy.
But there was little consensus among these groups
as to how to proceed, and ultimately Islamic fundamentalists won out, establishing an Islamic republic under the Ayatollah Khomenei.

Today, the Ayatollah Khamanei is the Supreme Leader. The elected leader is President Hassan Rouhani.

Quick overview of
Jason & Yegi's experiences

Iranian-American journalist Jason Rezaian was working as the Washington Posts’s Tehran bureau chief in 2014 when he and his wife Yegi (an Iranian reporter)
were kidnapped from their apartment building
by Iranian government security forces.

The Rezaians were taken to Evin Prison
and held on suspicion of espionage.

Yegi was released after 2.5 months,
but Jason was held for 544 days.

His release was part of the Iran nuclear deal.

Immediately after he was released he was offered a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.

Upon completion of this fellowship, he returned to work at the Washington Post, now writing for the Global Opinions section.

Yegi was sworn in as an American citizen on Tuesday and currently works as an Advocacy Associate at the Committee to Protect Journalists.