Jason Rezaian, Iran and the costs of press freedom
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Ten years ago this month, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian was freed from Iran’s Evin prison. He and his wife, Yeganeh, had been arrested at their home in Tehran and falsely accused of espionage.
Since then, Rezaian has dedicated himself to advocating for press freedom, and now he’s the director of The Post’s press freedom initiatives.
On Thursday, before a live audience at The Post, host Elahe Izadi sat down with Rezaian and his wife to talk about their reflections 10 years after their wrongful imprisonment. They were joined by ambassador Brett McGurk. As a presidential envoy, McGurk was integral to Rezaian’s release. They also spoke about what’s happening in Iran today, the widespread protests, what the United States could do and what this could all mean for the future of Iran.
Subscribe to The Washington Post here.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi there, it's Elahey. Today, I wanted to bring you something special for our weekend |
| 0:08.2 | episode. Ten years ago this month, Washington Post journalist Jason Rosian was freed from Iran's |
| 0:17.8 | worst prison. He and his wife, Yeganet, had been arrested at their home in Tehran |
| 0:23.5 | and falsely accused of espionage. Yegi was released after 76 days. Jason was held for 544 days. |
| 0:35.1 | Since then, Jason has dedicated himself to advocating for press freedom. He's now the director of the Washington Post's Press Freedom Initiatives. And this week, I sat down with him and Yegi to talk about the reflections 10 years after their wrongful imprisonment. We were also joined by Ambassador Brett McGirk. |
| 0:56.7 | McGurk was the former presidential envoy who was integral to Jason's release. |
| 1:01.4 | We recorded this before a live audience at the Washington Post on Thursday. |
| 1:06.0 | It was a really moving conversation. |
| 1:09.1 | We also spoke about what's happening in Iran today, the widespread |
| 1:13.3 | anti-government protests, what the U.S. could do, and what this could all mean for the future of Iran. |
| 1:20.0 | Okay, here's the show. |
| 1:39.8 | So I know there's so much to say and so many places to start this conversation, but really I want to just start here on reflecting on this anniversary. |
| 1:44.2 | Jason, it's been 10 years since your wrongful detainment. |
| 1:49.4 | I know you've been speaking quite a bit this month about this anniversary and this milestone. |
| 1:53.1 | So what has this moment in time meant to you? |
| 1:57.8 | Well, first of all, I want to reiterate. |
| 2:01.2 | Thank you, everybody, for making the arduous journey today to come downtown. |
| 2:03.4 | I really appreciate it. |
| 2:08.2 | In thinking about all that's happened in the last 10 years, |
| 2:13.5 | in a kind of personal sense, |
| 2:22.3 | thankful, grateful, happy about where we are in our lives. |
| 2:29.8 | But in terms of press freedom, it's much worse than when I was detained. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.