From jail to classroom
It was an unimaginable, Kafkaesque ordeal. Iranian police arrested Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, on vague charges in July 2014. Salehi, an Iranian journalist for The National, was released a short time later, but Rezaian, an American who grew up in the Bay Area of California, remained locked away in a notorious prison for months, even spending several weeks in solitary confinement. He was convicted of espionage in October 2015 after what analysts outside Iran said was a show trial. Rezaian’s captivity became international news thanks to relentless efforts by his brother, Ali, Post executive editor Martin Baron, and others who took to social media via the hashtag #FreeJason to raise awareness of his plight and put pressure on top U.S. government officials, even as diplomatic negotiations heated up to strike what would become a landmark nuclear accord with Iran. In January, 543 days after...