WASHINGTON — The Washington Post, stymied in its efforts to win the release of journalist Jason Rezaian from Iran, has filed an urgent petition asking help from a United Nations agency.

Rezaian was arrested over a year ago and has been held for months without charges in Iran’s Evin Prison.

In a statement released Wednesday, Post Executive Editor Martin Baron says, “Every aspect of this case — his incarceration, his trial, the conditions of his imprisonment — has been a disgraceful violation of human rights. And it violates common decency.”

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Secretary of State John Kerry has said US officials raised the issue of captive Americans with Iran persistently during recent nuclear talks, but to no avail.

The Post petition was filed with a UN working group that focuses on unlawful detentions.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.