The wife of Iranian-American Pastor Saaed Abedini, imprisoned in Iran since the summer of 2012, says she is heartbroken the United States did not make her husband's release part of the recent nuclear disarmament deal it cut with Iran.

"We have continually asked them, and felt that they were seriously considering bringing Saaed up as precondition to further negotiations," Naghmen Abedini told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.

"I felt that our government was going to do that, and I watched as President [Barack] Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry made their speech and there was no mention of Saaed," she said Wednesday.

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"I got many tweets and messages saying why was Saaed not mentioned from many, many Americans. And then ... the actual report came out that Saaed was not part of the discussion, and it was heartbreaking."

Abedini is serving eight years behind bars in Iran's Evin Prison, reportedly on charges of undermining national security through his Christian evangelical activities.

"To know that my government was shaking hands with my husband's captors who are torturing him without demanding his release and keeping Iran accountable on its continuous violations of human rights was horrific," Naghmen Abedini said.

"They did not keep Iran accountable for their continuous violations of human rights," she said.

Saaed Abedini was granted U.S. citizenship in 2010 and had been living with his wife in Boise, Idaho, before the trip to Iran during which he was seized.

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