By Lisa Daftari
The American pastor jailed in Iran for his Christian faith has managed to get a letter out to his global supporters, thanking them for their prayers while confirming the brutality of his conditions.
Saeed Abedini, the 33-year-old Idaho resident serving an eight-year prison term in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison, passed the letter to family members who were permitted to visit him after several weeks of isolation. The letter was passed to Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, who is at their Boise-area home with their two children and unable to visit her husand for fear of being arrested herself.
“I heard that the persecution, my arrest and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from different cities and countries, that would never come together because of their differences,” Abedini wrote. “You don’t know how happy I was in the Lord and rejoiced knowing that in my chains the body of Christ has chained together and is brought to action and prayer.”
Abedini signed the letter: “With many thanks for your continued and faithful prayers, Servant of our Lord in chains for Jesus Christ, Saeed.”
Abedini has been held at the brutal prison for 238 days, enduring long stints in solitary confinement, and, according to his supporters, beatings and torture at the hands of his jailers and fellow inmates. For months, he has been suffering from serious injuries, including internal bleeding from beatings with no proper medical attention, according to his family and attorneys.
