A US court on Friday ordered the government of Iran to pay nearly $180 million in damages to an Iranian-American journalist who was jailed by Tehran on espionage charges in 2014. A US District Court judge ordered the damages be paid to Jason Rezaian and his family in compensation for pain and suffering as well as economic loss for the 18-month detention, when he was physically abused, deprived of sleep and medical care and threatened with execution. Iran did not answer the lawsuit, according to Rezaian’s employer The Washington Post, and the Islamic republic is not expected to pay the damages.
