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The family of imprisoned Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian says his health is deteriorating due to 鈥渘eglect鈥� after 107 days in custody, even as a top Iranian official suggests that he may be free within weeks.

Until now, little news has emerged about Mr. Rezaian 鈥� a dual American-Iranian citizen 鈥� since his arrest at home in Tehran on July 22 with his wife, Iranian journalist Yeganeh Salehi, and two others Iranian-Americans.

Only Rezaian remains in custody; his wife was released on bail a month ago. His case is a point of friction frequently raised by US officials calling for his release while conducting nuclear talks with Iran that face a Nov. 24 deadline.

Yet Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran鈥檚 High Council for Human Rights, said in Geneva that Rezaian would likely be freed or pardoned in 鈥渓ess than a month.鈥�

Inside Iran, Rezaian鈥檚 arrest is widely seen as a political move by hardline opponents of President Hassan Rouhani aimed at undermining both the president鈥檚 domestic agenda 鈥� where he has promised to ease social restrictions in Iran 鈥� and his ability to find a new accommodation with the West and seal a nuclear deal.

Seen in that context, whether Rezaian is released without charge, or undergoes a lengthy court process, will be one indication of the current power balance in Iran.

鈥淓ither he will be totally discharged or it will go [to] the court and the court will make a final decision,鈥� Mr. Larijani told Euronews in an interview that aired today. If the court does not drop the security charges and Rezaian is indicted, 鈥渢hen the second line, the pardon line, will start,鈥� he said.

Larijani is part of a powerful family troika in Iran: one brother is the speaker of parliament; another the judiciary chief. Larijani said Iranian security officials had charged Rezaian with involvement in 鈥渁ctivities beyond journalism鈥� that 鈥渂reaches the security of the state.鈥�

No specific charges have been made public; Rezaian鈥檚 family and the Post reject the accusations. Iranian law requires a detainee to be either charged or released within 90 days, a deadline that passed for Rezaian with no apparent action. He has been a correspondent in Tehran for The Washington Post since 2012 and is a native of California.

Rezaian鈥檚 family say his health, which had stabilized despite a dramatic loss of weight a month ago, when his wife was released, has in recent weeks deteriorated.

鈥淲e are at a loss as to why they still have him, why he hasn鈥檛 been able to be treated, and why they just don鈥檛 let him go,鈥� says Rezaian鈥檚 brother Ali, speaking in an interview from New York.

鈥淏ased on what we鈥檝e heard, they鈥檝e monitored his blood pressure 鈥� which was a concern,鈥� said Ali Rezaian. 鈥淚t seems that the [health] things that are going on now are more a result of neglect, rather than active mistreatment.鈥�

Iranian record on press freedom

Larijani hinted days ago that there had been behind-the-scenes movement, and that his council had called for a review of Rezaian鈥檚 case. 鈥淎s the court procedure is elaborate, it takes time. So the prosecutor was kind enough to take a second review, ,鈥� Larijani told The New York Times.

In August, a United Nations human rights report described a 鈥済eneral repression of freedom of expression鈥� in Iran, and counted 35 journalists in detention, putting Iran high in world rankings. Larijani was in Geneva to defend Iran鈥檚 record; he and other officials 鈥� who reject the UN鈥檚 human rights reporting 鈥� claim that no one in Iran is detained for being a journalist. Iran has also seen a rise in executions, mostly for drugs offenses, since Rouhani was elected in June 2013.

Larijani鈥檚 comments about Rezaian鈥檚 case 鈥済ave us some hope that the right people are seeing what鈥檚 going on, and they鈥檙e realizing there really is nothing going on there, that Jason really is innocent here and that he should be released,鈥� says Ali Rezaian.

鈥淭he fact that they are talking more about it, and the fact they are talking publicly 鈥� the direction is correct. A month ago, we were hearing: 鈥榃e鈥檙e investigating.鈥� Now we鈥檙e hearing there is a chance he can be released without any charges,鈥� he adds.

Allegations of espionage

Within two weeks of Rezaian鈥檚 arrest, conservative media in Tehran reported a list of accusations. Tasnim News Agency claimed that 鈥渘umerous and reliable evidence exists of spying鈥� by Rezaian 鈥� but did not describe a single piece of that 鈥渆vidence鈥� 鈥� and quoted a letter from the 鈥淏asij [Volunteer] Organization of Lawyers鈥� that rehashed Iran鈥檚 espionage law and called for the 鈥渕aximum punishment.鈥�

The hardline Vatan-e Emrooz newspaper cited 鈥渆xisting evidence in cyberspace鈥� to claim Rezaian and the others were arrested for directing a 鈥淗appy鈥� video in Iran and linked Rezaian鈥檚 Twitter feed to a number of media and activist groups in Washington and London.

A week later, the reformist Saham News website reported that Revolutionary Guard intelligence services were arresting people close to Rouhani in an attempt to subvert his foreign policy. The Guard 鈥渉as been trying to make [Rezaian] perform TV confessions under the charges of espionage,鈥� and link the 鈥渆nemy鈥檚 spy鈥� to a Rouhani relative in the president鈥檚 communications office, the website claimed.

鈥淗e always followed the rules,鈥� says Ali Rezaian. 鈥淗e was really, really clear about wanting to stay within the rules, the boundaries that were there, because that鈥檚 what he had signed up to do.鈥�