Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian sued the Iranian government on Monday, charging that he was taken hostage and psychologically tortured during his year and a half in prison for political purposes.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., claims that the Islamic Republic targeted Rezaian for arrest in an attempt to "extort concessions" from the U.S. in last year’s multinational negotiations over the Iran nuclear accord.
The filing also said that Iranian authorities convicted Rezaian on espionage charges last year to increase what Tehran viewed as his "value" in a prisoner swap and sanctions alleviation, the Washington Post reported.
"For nearly eighteen months, Iran held and terrorized Jason for the purpose of gaining negotiating leverage and ultimately exchanging him with the United States for something of value to Iran," the suit says.
Rezaian, his mother, Mary Rezaian, and his brother, Ali Rezaian, are named as plaintiffs in the suit and are asking for an unspecified sum for the "irreparable harm" caused during his imprisonment.
Rezaian was released earlier this year along with four other U.S. citizens the same day that the Iran nuclear deal was implemented.
The suit detailed for the first time the abuse Rezaian suffered during his 544-day imprisonment.
"[Iranian authorities] held him in prolonged solitary confinement, deprived him of sleep, aggressively and relentlessly interrogated him, denied him basic medical treatment for serious and painful illnesses and infections, and threatened him with dismemberment, execution, and other forms of cruel and unusual physical torture," the suit says.
It also claims that Rezaian’s wife, Salehi, faced similar treatment during her two-month detainment.
Rezaian, a dual citizen of the United States and Iran, was arrested in July 2014 on accusations of "spying on Iran’s nuclear programs" and providing the U.S. government with information on individuals and companies evading economic sanctions. He is currently on leave from the Post to serve as a Niemen fellow at Harvard University.