An American journalist who has been held captive in the Asian nation of Iran, has been sentenced to prison.
Jason Rezaian
A Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who has been detained for some time in Iran, has been sentenced to an unspecified prison term following his conviction last month on charges that include espionage.
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, announced the punishment in a statement on Iranian state TV's website.
He said: "In brief, it is a prison sentence," but added that the verdict is "not finalized," referring to an expected appeal.
However, Rezaian's lawyer, Leila Ahsan, who spoke with The Associated Press, said she had not been informed of the verdict - let alone details of the sentence.
"I have no information about details of the verdict," she said. "We were expecting the verdict some three months ago."
Rezaian was detained with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, and two photojournalists on July 22, 2014. All were later released except Rezaian, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen.