The wife of an American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran for evangelizing is praying for a miracle as she awaits her husband's impending trial and possible death sentence.
Naghmeh Abedini, who lives near Boise, Idaho, has been told by her husband’s attorneys that she should expect the worst at Monday's trial, where Saeed Abedini, a father of two, faces the capital charge of compromising national security.
Those who have been following Mr Abedini’s trial believe the charges are directly related to his work nearly a decade ago when he started a house church movement in the Islamic country.
Deep fear: Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran for evangelizing, is praying for a miracle as she awaits her husband's impending trial and possible death sentence
Abbas Pir-Abassi, the judge he will face on Monday, is infamous for sending defendants to the gallows, Foxnews.com reports.
‘There is a lot going through my mind. I can never clear my head. I only sleep two hours a night,’ Ms Abedini, 35, told the online news site from her parent’s home in Idaho.
‘Unfortunately, he has been set up for failure and a harsh sentence because of his beliefs. His attorney says that the court has gathered a large amount of evidence against him,’ she said.
As the trial approaches, Ms Abedini and her husband's supporters are hoping that international pressure will prevent the Iranian regime from executing the 32-year-old pastor.
The Obama administration has called on Iran to free Mr Abedini, though the United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said on Friday.
‘We remain troubled by the case of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who was arrested by Iranian officials more than three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs. We call upon Iranian authorities to release him immediately,’ said Mr Vietor.
'Expect the worst': Mr Abendini's attorneys told his wife that she should expect the worst at Monday's trial, where the father of two faces the capital charge of compromising national security
Ms Abedini, who was born in Tehran and moved to the states with her family when she was nine years old, says she has had sporadic contact with her husband.
The two have been able to correspond through letters smuggled out of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison and, occasionally, when relatives in Iran are able to speak to him by phone and conference her in, she says.
‘When I do get to speak with him, I don’t even know what to say,’ she told Foxnews.com. ‘What do you say when you only have four minutes?’
Mr and Ms Abedini met in Iran in 2001, during a trip the wife took back there, and the two married in their home country in 2004, under the rule of then-President Mohammad Khatami.
The couple were allowed to have a Christian ceremony, though tolerance for Christianity and the evangelism that Mr Abedini practiced was quickly diminishing.
By November of 2005, the couple who had helped establish a network of home-based Christian churches was forced to flee Iran under charges similar to those Mr Abedini now faces.
‘We lived in a nearby country until early 2006, we had to wait to come here until he was able to get a marriage visa,’ Ms Abedini recalled.
Mr Abedini was granted citizenship in the U.S. soon after that and the couple moved to the states to raise their son and daughter, ages 4 and 6.
However, the pastor felt the calling of his extended and his ministry in Iran and returned to the Islamic country.
Praying for a miracle: Mrs Abedini is awaiting the news about her husband's trial from her parent's home in Idaho, where she is staying with their son and daughter, ages 4 and 6
‘He loves the U.S., but he missed his family,’ Ms Abedini said.
In 2009, the couple decided to return to Iran and take a chance facing the charges against them.
‘We thought he would have been arrested once we arrived at the airport, but nothing happened,’ Ms Abedini said.
Her husband was later arrested when the two returned to the airport for their flight home.
Iranian authorities later freed Mr Abedini , allowing him to return to the U.S., but warned him not to do anymore evangelical work in Iran.
Ms Abedini, however, says the couple was told they were free to return to their native country for secular humanitarian efforts.
Last summer, Mr Abedini went back to Iran to help open an orphanage with the state’s backing, his wife says.
During that trip, the pastor was pulled off a bus, placed under house arrest and then moved to Evin prison in September.
The specific allegations against him have not been made public, though supporters say his trial is almost certainly related to his conversion from Islam to Christianity in 2000 and his efforts to spread the gospel in Iran over the following years.
Mr Abedini, himself, is unaware of the charges against him, according to a letter he recently was able to sneak out of his prison cell.
‘This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus,’ he wrote.
‘One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy.’
Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, which has fought to bring attention to Abedini's plight, told Foxnews.com that he hopes the Obama administration will continue to press Iran on the matter of Mr Abendini’s release.
‘The statement released today is encouraging,’ Mr Sekulow said in reference to Mr Vietor’s words this week.
‘It is our hope that the Secretary of State and the State Department fully engage this issue and call for his immediate release.
‘We urge them to utilize all of their diplomatic resources to secure the freedom of this U.S. citizen who is being persecuted and facing grave danger because of his religious beliefs.’
Unknown: The specific allegations against Mr Abedini have not been made public, though supporters say his trial is likely related to his conversion from Islam to Christianity in 2000 and his efforts to spread the gospel in Iran
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