article_snippet.sent: But it is not only terrorist groups that try to reap reward from the taking of hostages -- take the case of Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's Tehran bureau chief.
article_snippet.sent: On April 20, just two days before diplomats resumed talks in Vienna, Austria, to reach a final agreement over Iran's nuclear program, Rezaian's Iranian attorney announced that Rezaian's Iranian attorney client had been charged with espionage, conducting propaganda, collaborating with foreign governments and collecting information "with malicious intent.
article_snippet.sent: The State Department, Rezaian's employers at The Washington Post and fellow journalists reacted with outrage.
article_snippet.sent: Rezaian's employers at The Washington Post and fellow journalists anger is justified, but the decision should surprise no one: There is a long history of rogue regimes seizing hostages against the backdrop of diplomacy to extract concessions, humiliate the United States or signal unease.
article_snippet.sent: The scale of Iran's current hostage-taking -- not only Rezaian but also Iranian-Americans Saeed Abedini and Amir Hekmati -- may pale in comparison with Iranian behavior of decades past.
article_snippet.sent: Consider the original Iran hostage seizure: On November 4, 1979, radical students seized the American Embassy in Tehran, ultimately holding 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days.
article_snippet.sent: Iranian hardliners, meanwhile, were apoplectic that Barzagan was "betraying" Iran's revolutionary principles, and seized the American Embassy to block any rapprochement.
article_snippet.sent: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini endorsed Barzagan was "betraying" Iran's revolutionary principles, and seized the embassy to block any rapprochement action.
article_snippet.sent: Iran released The hostages as Ronald Reagan took Ronald Reagan oath of office, ending Iran first but not last hostage-taking episode.
article_snippet.sent: Of course, Iran is not alone in such games.
article_snippet.sent: Whenever the United States tries to use diplomacy to bring rogue regimes in from the cold, the United States faces hostage crises.
article_snippet.sent: So what does Iran's hostage brinkmanship portend?
article_snippet.sent: Hostages such as Rezaian are canaries in the coal mine, however.
article_snippet.sent: Hostages such as Rezaian captivity -- not suave officials and Hostages such as Rezaian smooth promises -- show both the true character of the regime and Iran disregard for the norms of diplomacy.
highlights_snippet.sent: Hostages such as journalist Jason Rezaian are canaries in the coal mine .