Franklin Graham, the Christian evangelist, has said President Barack Obama should intervene to press for the release of Saeed Abedini in the way that he did for a man linked to the Muslim Brotherhood held in Egypt.
Abedini is an American Christian pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran since September 2012. A convert from Islam, he established roughly 100 Christian churches in the country in the early 2000s.
In an open
letter posted on Facebook, Graham noted that the Obama administration worked with Egyptian authorities to secure the release of Mohamed Soltan, who had been sentenced to life for his affiliation with the radical Islamic terrorist group.
"Mr. President, American pastor Saeed Abedini has been imprisoned in Iran for
2½ years, and last week he suffered another severe beating at the hands of inmates. His life is continuously threatened not only because he's an American, but also because he's a Christian. This was why he was arrested — and he has been told his only way out is to deny Jesus Christ," Graham wrote in a post on Monday.
He referred to news reports that the White House worked extensively for the release Soltan, an Egyptian-American, from an Egyptian prison last month. Graham pointed out that Soltan worked on the Obama campaign and that his father was a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
"Mr. President, I hope you'll do the same to help Saeed Abedini — who is guilty of nothing, was sentenced to eight years in prison, and whose only affiliation is with the Lord Jesus Christ. Christians, pray with me for Saeed's protection and for his release."
According to the
Christian Post, Abedini has been "viciously beaten" by fellow prisoners, suffering blows to his face. The attack was reportedly unprovoked.
"It is heartbreaking to me and my family that Saeed was again beaten in prison. Saeed's life is continuously threatened not only because he is an American, but also because he is a convert from Islam to Christianity. It's time to get Saeed home before it is too late," Naghmeh Abedini, Saeed's wife who saw him after the attack, told the Post.
Last week, Naghmeh Abedini spoke before Congress to plead for further action on her husband's case.
She told the Post that her husband was told his prison sentence would be increased unless he denied his Christian faith, which she said he will not do.
In May, Senate lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution calling for Iranian officials to immediately release Abedini and two other Americans held in Iran.
The president has vowed to veto any legislation that would make the approval of the Iran nuclear deal contingent on the release of Abedini and the other Americans being held, but he
has called for Abedini's release and told Naghmeh that he would
do everything possible to secure it.
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