Saeed Abedini, who was born in Iran and whose family home is now in Idaho, relayed the letter of gratitude through his father during one of his sanctioned weekly 20-minute visitor sessions.
“Thank you again for standing up for my family and I and for thousands of Christians across the world who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ,” Abedini wrote.
In 2009, Abedini was arrested in Iran and later released after formally pledging to stop organizing churches in homes. He returned to Iran in 2012 to help build a state-run secular orphanage. It was during this visit that he was abruptly pulled from a bus and imprisoned.
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“It’s not that they haven’t given him any treatment. It’s that they continue to give him medications that have not helped and doctors’ medical tests have concluded surgery is necessary,” Barrans said.
Despite their grueling emotional journey, Abedini family members say they continue to hold on to hope as they make headway in bringing increased attention to Saeed Abedini’s story, both in the United States and internationally.
Since meeting the President, Naghmeh Abedini said she has received follow-up calls from the White House and is set to meet with U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom David N. Saperstein at the end of February.
