President Obama surprised many observers during a visit to Boise State University Wednesday by holding a private meeting with Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of an Iranian-American pastor jailed in Iran for being a Christian.
The President has been under fire from religious freedom groups for doing very little to obtain the release of Saeed Abedini.
Naghmeh had requested the meeting with the President in an attempt to seek help for her husband after discovering Obama was going to be conducting a rally at BSU for his State of the Union address ideas.
“I got to meet with President Obama today! The kids and I were in a small office room with him and he was gracious with his time (we met for over 10 minutes),” she wrote on Facebook. “I told him that I had refrained from food for three days and prayed and fasted, and God had ordained this meeting.”
“He said that getting Saeed out is a top priority and he is working very hard to get Saeed home back to our family,” Abedini added.
Naghmeh’s children were with her and her son challenged the President.
“Jacob then asked him, ‘Mr. President, can you please bring my daddy home for my birthday?’” Abedini recalled. “President Obama asked Jacob when his birthday was, and Jacob said March 17. President Obama said, ‘I am going to try very hard to make that happen, Jacob. I am going to try very hard…’ Praise God!”
Saeed Abedini is in his second year of incarceration at Iran’s brutal Rajai Shahr Prison.
The family of wrongly imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini says that he has been beaten while in an Iranian hospital and then taken back to prison.
Iranian family members have reported that Pastor Abedini was beaten by Iranian jailers while shackled to his hospital bed and then rushed back to Rajai Shahr prison. No explanation was given to the family or hospital staff for the immediate removal of Abedini.
Abedini had been hospitalized because of beatings taken at the hands of jailers and prisoners at both Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons. Untreated internal bleeding had caused massive complications and heavy pain for Abedini and he had been scheduled for surgery until the Iranian government stopped it.
“It is a very disturbing development that underscores what we have known from the very beginning. There is much upheaveal and uncertainty in Iran,” Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice said. “This unexpected move raises great concern.”
The Obama Administration has not yet made any comment regarding this sudden reversal in treatment of American citizen Abedini by the Iranian government.
A Hollywood film producer joined forces with a church that has been raising funds to support the family of wrongly imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini for a huge event that is providing funds for the family to purchase a home.
Daniel Lusko, who has written and directed the still unreleased film “Persecuted”, held a special private screening of the movie with all proceeds benefitting the Abedini family’s fund with Joshua Springs Calvary Chapel.
The church has been actively taking care of the family during Abedini’s imprisonment.
Saeed’s wife, Naghmeh, attended the screening and told attendees that her husband is still in an Iranian hospital being treated for internal bleeding because of the beatings at the hands of guards and other prisoners. He is still be denied much needed surgery.
Lusko said that he is planning two more sneak previews of the film with all ticket sales going to the Abedini family.
“Movies come and go and filmmakers like me don’t face much persecution. But men and women like the Abedinis face persecution and death every single day,” Lusko said.
The wife of jailed American pastor Saeed Abedini was praising God at an appearance before the watchdog group International Christian Concern.
“The Lord has counted our family worthy enough to send Saeed to a dark place that he would be able to share with people who are in complete despair,” Naghmeh Abedini said.
She said that while her husband had been in prison there have been many prisoners who have given their hearts to the Lord.
“This has been very hard, but spiritually it is the best time in my life. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said. “My new reality forced me out of my self-consumed life. I realized I had a right to speak out for those who are being silenced, to speak for the Christians, for the Jews, for the Baha’i, and other fellow human beings who are being imprisoned simply because of their beliefs.”
The family’s lawyers with the American Center for Law and Justice said that Pastor Abedini is still in an Iranian prison but the authorities are still denying potentially life-saving surgery.
Imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini is finally receiving hospital treatment for internal injuries suffered at the hands of his captors in Iranian prisons.
Naghmeh Abedini told Faith Radio her husband is finally being given decent meals and pain medication to deal with this wounds. He had been transferred to a hospital from Rajai Shahr prison, called Iran’s deadliest prison.
However, Saeed reportedly still needs to undergo surgery.
Iran backed off and called a “mistake” their recent actions where they shackled Abedini and denied him any medical treatment. The reversal came after a worldwide outcry of abuse.
His lawyers with the American Center for Law and Justice say the Iranian guards are still blocking visitors.
Pastor Saeed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran for his faith in Christ, received a small bit of good news when he was transferred from the murderer’s ward of Rajai Shahr Prison to the ward where they hold political prisoners.
However, his attorneys say the move is only a slight step toward justice for Abedini.
The American Center for Law and Justice said in a statement that Pastor Saeed is still in the deadliest prison in Iran and facing a serious medical issue. Members of Abedini’s Iranian family was able to see him for the first time in six weeks and said that he is still throwing up and has extreme pain in his abdomen.
A prison doctor actually recommended surgery and told prison officials that it was medically necessary for Abedini’s internal injuries. He gave Abedini medication to try and ease the pain. Iranian officials have not responded to the doctor’s request for surgery.
“There is a glimmer of comfort to know that my husband has been transferred out of the murderers’ ward, but my heart aches to know the pain he continually suffers and that his injuries necessitate surgery,” Saeed’s wife Naghmeh Abedini said in a statement. “As a family, it is difficult to be so far away and unable to comfort him in his pain.”
American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been moved by Iranian officials to a prison notorious for prisoners killing other prisoners, has reportedly been denied medication and blankets his father tried to give him.
Prison officials said that Abedini is not allowed to have any personal belongings. Those familiar with Rajai Shahr prison say the prison is severely overcrowded and that conditions inside are “deadly and inhumane.”
Jordan Sekulow, the executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, announced Abedini’s move from Evin prison to the brutal Rajai Shahr last week although the Iranian government gave no explanation for the move. He said that without medication, the health of Abedini is likely to quickly decline.
Over 211,000 people have signed a petition calling for President Obama to take immediate action on behalf of Abedini believing that Iran moved the American pastor in the hopes that he will be killed in prison.
The American pastor being held in Iran because of his faith was moved to a prison considered even more brutal than where he had previously been held.
Family members of Saeed Abedini went to visit him at Evin Prison, a Tehran facility where he had been kept over a year. When they arrived, they were told the pastor had been moved 90 minutes away to Rajai Shahr Prison.
Rajai Shahr prison houses some of Iran’s more violent prisoners including murderers and rapists. Also, Abedini is not allowed to have any visitors at that prison.
The American Center for Law and Justice, Abedini’s American based attorneys, say that Abedini has been beaten and tortured. The mysterious move has concerned his lawyers who have been closely monitoring Abedini’s health.
