Brother Of Detained Washington Post Journalist Speaks Out About New Charges

The brother of the Washington Post journalist currently detained in Iran has spoken out about news that his sibling was officially charged in Iranian court.

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that its reporter Jason Rezaian, who has been held in Iran since July, was officially charged and denied bail in Tehran court, while the actual charges against him are still unknown. Rezaian has been held in the country for more than four months without charge, with Iranian officials sharing very little information on the reasoning behind his detention. Rezaian has also been kept from speaking to the lawyer who was hired by his family, the Post said.

Jason's brother, Ali Rezaian, told HuffPost Live on Monday that there is no "legitimate" charge that his brother could be guilty of, calling him a good and fair journalist. He also added that he has not heard from his brother since he was first detained.

"We haven't had any access to Jason at all," he said. "It's hard to believe that there could be anything legitimate that they could charge him with."

Just last week, the judge handling Rezaian's case announced that his detention would be extended by two months, though charges had still not been made. Ali said that the new reports are definitely a set back for the family, who had previously been feeling optimistic about his imminent release.

"We really thought that they would see the weakness in the case and realize that there wasn't anything there," he said. "If there was anything that they could charge him with I would think that that would have happened already, but now that we have charges, we're hoping that it will move into a different phase and that the judiciary will do the right thing and release him."