Billy Graham reaches out to Iranian President, calls for release of Pastor Saeed Abedini

Public domain photo/Billy Graham

The Reverend Billy Graham has joined tens of thousands of Americans in writing a letter directly to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. The full text of the letter was provided by the ACLJ here.

“On September 26, the one-year anniversary of Pastor Abedini’s imprisonment, thousands will attend prayer vigils in more than 70 U.S. cities, calling on your country to release this husband, father and servant of God,” Graham writes in a letter addressed to Rouhani and published on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website. “I join them by respectfully asking you to release Pastor Saeed Abedini from prison. Such an action would, I believe, have a positive impact in our nation, and might well be perceived by our leadership as a significant step in reducing tensions.”

Abedini has been in Evin Prison in Tehran since his arrest last year, and was later sentenced to eight years in jail.

Naghmeh Abedini was able to hand-deliver a letter to Rouhani’s delegation in their hotel lobby while in New York to attend the U.N General Assembly, according to news reports. In the note.

In Graham’s letter to Rouhani, he writes that as a religious leader he has have often spoken, both publicly and privately, with U.S. leadership about the need for greater understanding and peace among the nations of the world. “As you come to the United States this week for the U.N. General Assembly in New York, it is my sincere hope that ways may be found to reduce the current tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he states.

Graham adds, “The announcement on Monday that your country has freed 80 political prisoners is very encouraging. I fear, however, that the current publicity surrounding the continued imprisonment of Pastor Abedini, an American citizen, may further harm the already fragile relationship that presently exists between our two nations.”