The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini says that he’s been shaken by the beating and then executions of six prisoners who have been held with him in Iran.
“Saeed was quite shaken as he had to witness 6 fellow prisoners being beaten and taken to be executed (hanged) that day,” Naghmeh was quoted as saying in a report by American Center for Law and Justice on Saturday.
“It was a hard and dark day having witnessed that and seeing life being taken. The prison visit was also very hard as the families of those who were executed were crying and wailing.”
Naghmeh said that she learned of the situation after his Iranian relatives visited the prison.
Despite a promise from President Obama that he would obtain Saeed’s release by the 7th birthday of Saeed’s son Jacob, nothing has been done by the White House.
“It was also an emotional visitation as it is getting closer to Jacob’s 7th birthday. Last time Saeed saw Jacob he was 4 years old,” she said, urging Christians to continue to pray for her husband “to have the strength to endure in that harsh prison and that Jesus would continue to meet him there and give him hope.”
A man that the U.S. government has designated a terrorist has been found leading Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS.
The man is Major General Qasem Suleimani, the Iranian spymaster and leader of the special operations wing of the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Photographs from the war theater around Tikrit showed Suleimani providing direction to senior Iraqi officials fighting to take the town back from ISIS. Analysis say the discovery shows the growing influence of Iran on the Iraqi government.
“I know we’re keeping our distance physically from them in Baghdad,” Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J said. “Have we ceded most of the governance of Iraq to Iranians?…And will the military operations that are undergoing, which we are watching, divide the country and require us in some ways to spend more of our resources?”
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said that he shared the concern of the representatives about who would be influencing the region if the troops drive ISIS out of the major cities in the region.
Intelligence officials say that 2/3 of the Shiite militia fighting ISIS are loyal to Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, looking and sounding like a strong, firm leader of a nation, delivered a strong warning to members of Congress concerning negotiations with Iran over nuclear weapons.
“We have been told that no deal is better than a bad deal. Well this is a bad deal. It is a very bad deal. We are better off without it,” Netanyahu said. “We are being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That is just not true. The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal.”
Over 50 Democratic Party lawmakers, including Vice President Biden, boycotted the speech.
The speech drew multiple standing ovations from the combined houses of Congress and many of the legislators could be seen shaking heads in agreement with virtually all of the Prime Minister’s speech.
“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
“That is exactly what could happen if the deal being negotiated is accepted by Iran. That deal would not prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons. It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons, lots of them.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a very hard warning Monday to the members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
The nuclear deal the United States is planning with Iran could threaten the very existence of the nation of Israel.
“As prime minister of Israel, I have a moral obligation to speak up in the face of these dangers while there’s still time to avert them,” Netanyahu told a cheering audience.
Netanyahu downplayed conflicts between the White House and Israel.
“My speech (to Congress) is not intended to show disrespect for President Obama and the office that he holds,” Netanyahu said. “I deeply appreciate all that President Obama has done for Israel.”
The White House tried to sound a conciliatory tone after Netanyahu’s speech, saying the U.S. and Israel are united in the goal of a non-nuclear Iran.
Pastor Saeed Abedini, wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for over 2 years and in one of Iran’s most brutal prisons, has released a letter through his lawyers thanking President Obama for meeting with his wife.
“I was personally encouraged that you were in my hometown of Boise, Idaho and made time to visit my wife and children,” Abedini wrote.
“They have had a heavy burden to carry in my absence, and your presence helped to relieve some of that burden. . . Thank you again for standing up for my family and I and for thousands of Christians across the world who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. President Obama, you have my prayers from inside of these walls. I pray for God’s guidance, wisdom and blessing for you as you lead this great nation.”
President Obama met with Naghmeh Abedini and the couple’s two children in an office at Boise State University before a speech promoting State of the Union address ideas. The President promised the children he would do all he could to bring their father home.
Pastor Abedini said that Christians are encouraged because of the meeting.
“Nothing is more valuable to the body of Christ than to see how the Lord is in control and moves ahead of countries and leadership through united prayer,” the pastor continued.
“Thank you again for standing up for my family and I and for thousands of Christians across the world who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. President Obama, you have my prayers from inside of these walls. I pray for God’s guidance, wisdom and blessing for you as you lead this great nation.”
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.
Iran threatened Israel on Monday after an Israeli unit killed six Iranian agents during a raid on a Hezbollah terrorist cell.
Iran promised a “crushing response” against the Jewish nation.
“The experience of the past shows that the resistance current will give a crushing response to the Zionist regime’s terrorist moves with revolutionary determination and in due time and place,” Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), told reporters.
The incident comes a week after Iranian officials said they were operating missile sites in Syria and possibly control a nuclear facility.
“If the highest level of Hezbollah commanders were in the Golan Heights and the high level of Iranians, it means that their idea, [what] they’re planning could be a kind of operation, an act against Israel on a high level,” Major General Eyal Ben Reuven of the IDF said during a conference call Monday organized by the Israel Project (TIP). “It’s significant, the high level of this meeting, of this reconnaissance of the Iranians and Hezbollah.”
“It says something about what they plan, what kind of operation they planned,” he added. “If Israel has intelligence that says there is a kind of operation on the way to act against Israel, I think Israel would have a legitimate [reason] to do all we can to prevent it.”
Hezbollah has said they are preparing for war in northern Israel.
Three Iranian pastors who were facing six years in prison for committing “action against national security” by sharing Christ have been acquitted of their crimes.
Behman Irani, the leader of the 300 member Church of Iran, had been facing 18 new charges along with two other pastors in the church, Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad and Reza Rabbani.
The charges included “spreading corruption on Earth” which carries a death penalty.
An appeals court overturned the convictions of the three men on December 9th. Irani is still being held in prison because of a conviction on another charge that has him in jail for another two years.
“It is encouraging to see the Iranian judicial system rule on the merits of the case, rather than simply exploiting the system as a means of persecuting religious minorities, as is regularly the case,” International Christian Concern Regional Manager Todd Daniels remarked in a statement. “It is a fundamental aspect of religious freedom to be able to meet together with others who share your beliefs. For too long, the Iranian regime has treated such meetings as a threat to national security.”
American pastor Saeed Abedini has released a letter from behind bars according to his wife and his legal team.
The American Center for Law and Justice says that the letter was given to a relative who visited Abedini last week. The pastor was in great pain from internal injuries that the Iranian government continues to forbid Saeed medical treatment.
“Saeed continues to have severe pain and would appreciate your prayers,” his wife Naghmeh told reporters.
“These days are very cold here. My small space beside the window is without glass making most nights unbearable to sleep,” Abedini wrote. “The treatment by fellow prisoners is also quite cold and at times hostile. Some of my fellow prisoners don’t like me because I am a convert and a pastor. They look at me with shame as someone who has betrayed his former religion.”
“Brothers and sisters, the fact of the gospel is that it is not only the story of Jesus, but it is the key of how we are to live and serve like Jesus,” the letter continues. “Today, we like Him should come out of our safe comfort zone in order to proclaim the word of life and salvation though faith in Jesus Christ and the penalty of sin that He paid on the cross and to proclaim His resurrection. We should be able to tolerate the cold, the difficulties and the shame in order to serve God. We should be able to enter into the pain of the cold dark world.”
Abedini’s wife says that he treasures the prayers of those around the world and says that he can feel the comfort that comes from them.
A campaign is being waged to get President Obama to finally take firm action on the pastor of an American pastor who is wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.
A series of prepared postcards has a message telling the President that the American people want to see him demand the release of Saeed Abedini as part of the nuclear negotiations with Iran.
“A man in your position has been given great power and responsibility to represent every American, whether on domestic or foreign soil. Please hold to your own words, that no one is left behind. We, the American people, ask you to do everything within your power to bring U.S. citizen, pastor, husband & father, Saeed Abedini, home to his family from his time of incarceration in Iran,” the card reads.
The American Center for Law and Justice, who is representing Pastor Abedini and his family, says that the President and his administration ignored the opportunity to work for Abedini’s release in previous negotiations.
At least 80,000 postcards have already been requested by those who will send them to the White House.