US Senate passes resolution for White House to pressure release of Pastor Saeed Abedini
The U.S. Senate has voted unanimously to pass a resolution urging the Obama administration to do more to free an American pastor imprisoned in Iran, as well as all Americans incarcerated in the country.
The resolution was presented by Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the home state of Saeed Abedini, who has been behind bars in Iran since 2012, ordered to deny his Christian faith, enduring beatings, medical care and denied visitation from his family.
“Iran thinks it elevates its position in the world because it does these kind of things. It does not,” Risch said. “Certainly it shows toughness, but a barbarian type of toughness that the world is not impressed with at all.”
“It is only right that the president should ensure Iran frees Pastor Abedini and the other Americans they have held captive for too many years before the United States provides any sanctions relief,” he stated.
Abedini left Iran in 2005 and moved to the United States with his wife and two children to find religious freedom after facing conflict with authorities for planting house churches in the county. In 2012, he traveled back to Iran to build an orphanage and visit his parents when he was taken into custody just ahead of returning to the US.
Abedini was later charged with threatening the national security of Iran, and for attempting to turn youth in the nation away from Islam and toward Christianity. He was then sentenced to eight years in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, where he has spent the past two years behind bars.
In November 2013, Abedini was transported to Rajai Shahr Prison, which was believed to pose an even greater threat to Abedini’s health and safety. Last May, while obtaining treatment at a local hospital for injuries sustained from beatings, he was likewise beaten and returned to prison.
