Posted: 04/03/2014 at 9:14am | IP Logged

IRAN (ANS) -- CBN News (www.CBNNews.com) is reporting that Pastor Saeed Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, says he's doing better now that he’s getting some medical treatment.

Naghmeh and Saeed Abedini during happier times

The American pastor has been jailed in Iran for 18 months.

He was recently transferred to an Iranian hospital to be treated for injuries he has suffered in Iran's deadliest prison Rajai Shahr, where he has been incarcerated after being moved from Evin Prison in Tehran.

After time in the “murderer ward” he was sent to a “political prisoner” ward.

His wife Naghmeh Abedini told Faith Radio (myfaithradio.com/tag/saeed-abedini), that her husband is finally being given decent meals and pain medication.

But she said he still needs surgery.

According to Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Abedini had been shackled and refused medical treatment at a hospital, as Iranian guards forcibly banned visitors.

In early March, U.S. Abedini, who is affiliated with Calvary Chapel Boise, Idaho (www.ccboise.org), was moved from Rajai Shahr Prison to a private hospital in Iran. He was told he would receive further tests on his deteriorating medical condition and undergo surgery to address chronic pain in his stomach area – the result of numerous prison beatings.

Calvary Chapel Boise Pastor Bob Caldwell, left, prays with Naghmeh Abedini, center, and Tiffany Barrans, with the American Center for Law and Justice Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 on the steps of the Capitol building in Boise, Idaho

After worldwide protests against his brutal handling, Iran called the recent shackling of Abedini a “mistake.”

In February, President Obama raised the imprisonment of Pastor Abedini at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. and called on Iran to release him so he can return to his family.

President Obama said, “We pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini. He's been held in Iran for more than 18 months - sentenced to eight years in prison on charges relating to his Christian beliefs. And as we continue to work for his freedom today, again, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini so he can return to the loving arms of his wife and children in Idaho.”

Pastor Saeed was visiting Iran, the land of his birth, to start an orphanage, when the Islamic regime arrested him and, in September 2012, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

To watch the latest CBN video on Pastor Abedini, please go to www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2014/April/Pastor-Abedini-Doing-Be tter/

A spokesperson for ACLJ said, “Share his critical plight with everyone you know. It is time for this 33-year-old U.S. citizen to come home. It’s time for him to be reunited with his wife, Naghmeh, and their two children, Rebekka and Jacob.”

To sign their petition to free Saeed Abedini please go to beheardproject.com/saeed. Already some 221,762 concerned people have signed it.

Source: Assist News Service