Pastor Saeed Abedini Has Been Freed by Iran

Christian pastor Saeed Abedini (along with several others) has been freed as part of a prisoner exchange with Iran.

CNN—Iran has freed four prisoners from the United States, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Iran's semi-official FARS news agency reported Saturday, citing Tehran's prosecutor.

According to FARS, Iran freed Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who had been held on various charges. FARS identified the fourth prisoner freed as Nosratollah Khosrawi. Details of Khosrawi's case were not immediately known.

The release is part of a prisoner swap deal in which the United States reportedly freed seven Iranian-Americans held on charges related to sanctions against Iran, FARS said. The news agency had previously said the U.S. was to release six prisoners.

"Based on an approval of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the general interests of the Islamic Republic, four Iranian prisoners with dual-nationality were freed today within the framework of a prisoner swap deal," FARS quoted the office of the Tehran prosecutor as saying. (Continue Reading.)

Islamic State (ISIS) Jihadists Held in Iran Threatening Pastor Saeed Abedini

Notice the mentality in Iran. A Christian pastor deserves the same treatment as Sunni jihadists who kill Shias.

(Reuters) - The Idaho wife of an Iranian-American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran for nearly two years said on Thursday her husband has received death threats from Islamic State militants held in the same detention center.

Saeed Abedini, 34, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced to eight years in prison by an Iranian court last year for undermining national security by setting up home-based Christian churches in his native country from 2000 to 2005.

His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, of Boise, Idaho, said threats to his life from lack of healthcare and nutritious food were compounded this week when cell mates told him Sunni Muslim prisoners who have aligned themselves with the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, have targeted him for death. It was not clear if the detained militants were Iraqis or Iranians.

Abedini relayed the information to his mother, who visited him this week at Rajai Shahr prison, west of the Iranian capital of Tehran, the pastor's wife told Reuters.

"He's already under threat because he is a convert to Christianity. Now we understand that ISIS members in the prison have said he is their number one target," she said.

The insurgent group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL or ISIS, is an al Qaeda offshoot that shortened its name recently to Islamic State.

Fighting against the governments of Iraq and Syria, it wants to recreate a medieval-style caliphate from the Mediterranean to the Gulf and deems Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics deserving death.

The pastor is in the same ward but a separate section from the Islamic State adherents, his wife said, adding that he is afraid to leave his cell and join the general prison population in the yard for exercise. (Continue Reading.)

Dear President Obama: Please Help Bring Our Daddy Home (a Message from the Children of Jailed Pastor Saeed Abedini)

Pastor Saeed Abedini

Jacob and Rebekka, children of jailed pastor Saeed Abedini (a former Muslim), are begging President Obama to finally do something to bring their father home from Iran. Abedini has been held in Iran's notorious Evin Prison since 2012. He was convicted of undermining state security by "creating a network of Christian house churches" and "attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam." This man should be given a medal for heroism, not sentenced to prison.

While President Obama has time to praise Islam in Cairo and to condemn a YouTube video about Muhammad, he doesn't seem to have the time to protect the basic human rights of Americans abroad. We all know that President Obama won't do anything until his apathy becomes an embarrassment to his party, so be sure to pass this video on. If the public outcry increases, the Obama Administration may be compelled to act.

Imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini Sends Easter Message from Hospital in Iran

Pastor Saeed Abedini is currently serving an eight year prison sentence in Iran for evangelism. He wrote the following Easter message from a hospital in Tehran.

Crucifying the resurrected “self” with Christ and resurrects our death faith with Christ.

Happy Resurrection Day.

On the Eve of Good Friday and Easter I was praying from my hospital room for my fellow Christians in the world. What the Holy Spirit revealed to me in prayer was that there are many dead faiths in the midst of Christians today. That Christians all over the world are not able to fully reach their spiritual potential that has been given to them as a gift by God so that in reaching that potential, the curtain can be removed and the Glory of God would be revealed.

Some times we want to experience the Glory and resurrection with Jesus without experiencing death with Him. We do not realize that unless we pass through the path of death with Christ, we are not able to experience resurrection with Christ.

We want to have a good and successful marriage, career, education and family life (which is also God’s desire and plan for our life). But we forget that in order to experience the Resurrection and Glory of Christ we first have to experience death with Christ and to die to ourselves and selfish desires.

Jesus said to His Disciples: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)

This means that we should not do things that we like to do (that God does not want us to do) and to do things that we do not like to do (but God wants us to do) so that He may be glorified.

So in addition to spending our days and night in doing the works of faith as described above, we should also transform our death faiths into living and active faiths through the resurrection of Christ which is an active and constructive love that is effective.

In conclusion, let us resurrect our Dead faiths to living faiths by first dying to our selfish “resurrected” self and experiencing the cross of Jesus. Then we are able to experience the Glorious resurrection with Christ.

A Glorious life with Christ starts only after a painful death (to self) with Christ.

We will start with Christ.

Pastor Saeed Abedini
Prisoner in the Darkness in Iran, but free for the Kingdom and Light