Examiner - State Department Not Available for Hearing for Jailed American Pastor

By Donna Sunblad, Examiner.com

A little more than 5 months ago, the phone woke Naghmeh Abedini in the middle of the night. The frantic voice on the other end told her that 5 revolutionary guards had raided the house and taken her husband, American pastor Saeed Abedini. No one could tell her where he was taken or what would happen to him. Nine months later, she is scheduled to testify at a House hearing on March 15, 2013 to shine a light on the plight of her husband who is still imprisoned in Iran.

Saeed said goodbye to his family on June 22, 2012. Naghmeh embraced her husband and thought they would be separated for a few weeks as he returned to Iran to work on the building of an orphanage. Instead, she has lived a waking nightmare and her husband has been sentenced to 8 years in the horrific Evin Prison because of his Christian faith. Since then, Naghmeh has been his voice, as she works endlessly trying to gain her husband's freedom. A Facebook account has been set up to organize prayer, and to get the word out, because the story has for the most part been overlooked.

"This nightmare exists because Saeed refuses to deny Christ. He is standing up for what he believes. Are we going to stand up with him? Are we going to be a voice for him when the Iranian government is doing all it can to silence him?" – Naghmeh Abedini in a letter to ACLJ. . .

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