A Congressional Call to Free American Pastor Saeed Abedini

Many members of Congress understand the importance of standing up for an American citizen who is illegally imprisoned in Iran simply because of his Christian faith.

We're grateful to those in Congress who are working to bring the issue of Pastor Saeed Abedini to the forefront - and their commitment to doing all they can to raise this critical violation of religious freedom and human rights.

Pastor Saeed is serving a lengthy sentence in a brutal Iranian prison because of his Christian faith. In fact, September 26th will mark the one year anniversary of his captivity.

Just a few weeks ago, an Iranian appeals court rejected Pastor Saeed's appeal, refusing to reduce his eight-year prison sentence.

Among those standing in support of Pastor Saeed - Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), co-chairman of the International Religious Freedom Caucus.

He issued a strong statement on Pastor Saeed's behalf following the Iranian court's decision to turn down the appeal.

"Iran has once again demonstrated an utter disregard for fundamental human rights by continuing to insist that Pastor Saeed Abedini, an American citizen, be unjustly imprisoned in Iran.  I will continue to exhaust every available avenue to continue to advocate for Pastor Abedini’s immediate and unconditional release."

And then Rep. Franks took to the House floor to highlight Pastor Saeed's case and read into the record the reaction of disappointment and concern from Pastor Saeed's wife, Naghmeh - her own statement - reacting to the decision by the Iranians to reject her husband's appeal.

At the same time, Rep. Franks expressed his outrage about the fact that President Obama has ignored the case, not even commenting on the plight of this U.S. citizen.

"I am heartbroken for the Abedini family and enraged at the lackadaisical attitude and silence of President Obama," Rep. Franks said. You can watch his entire remarks here.

At the American Center for Law and Justice, we are intensifying our efforts to call attention to Pastor Saeed's plight and accelerate our work in this country and abroad to secure his freedom.

In addition to Congressional support, we have heard from nearly 650,000 people around the world who already have expressed their concern and support for Pastor Saeed at SaveSaeed.org. We will be announcing shortly a new initiative to generate even more support and attention for Pastor Saeed.