Troubling Development in Fight to Save Pastor’s Life in Iran

In a troubling development, Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani's attorney, Mohammed Ali Dadkha, has acknowledged the possibility of the charges against him being changed. Recall, throughout the last two years and most recently at the Iranian Supreme Court, Pastor Nadarkhani was on trial for apostasy and nothing else. Now, as Fox News reported, the Iranian government is claiming that Pastor Nadarkhani was charged with a number of crimes including being a threat to national security and a Zionist, but not apostasy.

The charge of being a Zionist and thus a traitor, terms that imply he is some kind of spy for Israel and opponent of the Islamic Republic, is among the most serious accusations that can be made in Iran. Unfortunately, we know that this is the charge Iran levies to justify executing people who were actually arrested, imprisoned, and tried on completely different charges. While these new charges may be, as I said before, an attempt to deflect media and international attention, the fact that it is possible the Pastor could actually face these charges means that his life is in more danger now than it has been at any other time since the trial began.

It is also becoming more difficult to confirm that he is still alive. Throughout Pastor Nadarkhani's two-year imprisonment, he has traditionally only been permitted to have one visitor per week. This is one barrier we have to overcome each day when we try to get solid confirmation that he is alive. We can confirm that our contacts in Iran have reported that as of yesterday evening, Pastor Youcef was still alive, but that is becoming more and more difficult to confirm each day.

It is critical that we keep Pastor Youcef's story in the media and that our leaders take a stand to defend Pastor Youcef. Please sign our Petition to Secretary of State Clinton - Call on Iran to save Christian pastor today.

We will continue to keep you updated as we continue to fight to save Pastor Youcef’s life. Please continue to share these updates, and pray.