Saeed Abedini: Please pray for my marriage

WASHINGTON—Pastor Saeed Abedini visited the nation’s capital on Thursday to thank lawmakers who advocated for his release from prison in Iran. Now safely back in the United States, Abedini is asking Christians to pray for the restoration of his marriage and for the Obama administration to do more for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.

“The first thing [I need prayer for] is my family and the marriage issues I’m going through,” Abedini told me, while taking a break from posing for photos with lawmakers. “The second is, I spent hundreds of hours praying in prison for a miracle and for the Bible to come back to America—those are the two things that are on my heart today.”

Abedini said the Obama administration needs to get more “serious” about protecting Christians in the Middle East. When asked specifically what “serious” actions he wants to see from the White House, Abedini laughed and said “only a politician knows.”

Abedini, who became a U.S. citizen in 2010, spent more than three years in Iranian prisons after being arrested in 2012. He was sentenced to eight years for undermining national security with his involvement in Iran’s underground house church movement. While behind bars, Abedini endured repeated beatings and witnessed the executions of fellow believers. On Jan. 16, after 14 months of negotiations, U.S. officials announced they had reached a deal with Iran to free Abedini and four other Americans held captive in the country.

Throughout his captivity, Abedini’s wife Naghmeh campaigned tirelessly for his release. In October, she shocked supporters by announcing in a Facebook post that the couple had serious, unresolved strife in their marriage. Abedini, she said, had been abusive for almost their entire marriage. Despite all that, Naghmeh rejoiced over her husband’s release and in public statements said she hoped for reconciliation. But on Jan. 26, five days after her husband was freed, Naghmeh filed for a legal separation.

“I do deeply regret that I hid from the public the abuse that I have lived with for most of our marriage, and I ask your forgiveness,” Naghmeh wrote in January. “I sincerely had hoped that this horrible situation Saeed has had to go through would bring about the spiritual change needed in both of us to bring healing to our marriage. Tragically, the opposite has occurred.”

Abedini, who pleaded guilty to domestic abuse in 2007, told the Idaho Statesman earlier this month he did not intend to discuss the couple’s issues in public until they had made progress in private toward reconciliation. But he said much of his wife’s public claims about him are untrue.

The couple’s marital problems went unmentioned during today’s reception. Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., an advocate for Abedini’s release since 2013, was one of the first Americans to see Abedini after he left Iran. Pittenger flew to Landstuhl, Germany, to meet the man he spent years trying to free.

“I just love this man and continue to pray for him, because he represents the plight of millions of people,” Pittenger said. “I just want to give him recognition for standing up for Christ.”

At Abedini’s request, Pittenger organized a special reception for the pastor to thank the members of Congress who worked to secure his freedom. Dozens of politicians stood in line to greet Abedini.

“We’re the two happiest people in America right now,” Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, blurted out while posing for a photo with Abedini. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., who brought his wife along, grinned ear-to-ear while shaking Abedini’s hand.

But after the reception, it became clear Abedini’s story is not as well-known in Washington as Pittenger and others would like.

Pittenger and his staff escorted Abedini through the Capitol for a quick tour and ran into House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Ryan did not recognize Abedini and asked the pastor where he was from. Pittenger quickly prompted the speaker to his guest’s significance.

“Oh hey, welcome home,” Ryan said. “You want to do a picture?”

Abedini’s sister Zeebandeh, who lives in Virginia, and his parents, who split time between Idaho and Iran, joined him for the reception. Abedini credited his father with being his only connection to the outside world during his imprisonment. His father paid Iranian prison guards to give his son a cell phone, allowing him to communicate from behind bars.

“It was illegal, so we were very careful that no one found out, because if they did they would hurt us,” Abedini said.

The phone was very expensive, but he had no other choice, he said. Once he paid off the guards, Abedini’s father came by periodically to charge the phone’s battery.

“When you live there for years you can find ways,” Abedini said.