Naghmeh Abedini pleas to US Congress for aid in freeing jailed husband
Naghmeh Abedini, wife of jailed Iranian American Pastor Saeed Abedini has again pleaded with members of the U.S. Congress to work for his release from an Iranian prison.
"For the past 3 years I have been carrying with me a deep excruciating pain knowing that my husband continues to suffer yet another day in one of the worst prisons in the world," said Naghmeh Abedini, whose husband has been a prisoner in Iran since September 2012.
She fears for his safety, but said that God has granted her and her husband a "supernatural peace and strength that is covering our family today," Catholic News Agency reported
Naghmeh Abedini joined other family members of Americans imprisoned in Iran at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on June 2 noting that her Christian faith is sustaining her during this testing period of her life.
The timing of her testimony came a deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran was nearing, an event which many people fear could produce an agreement without securing the release of the captive Americans, the American Center for Law and Justice.
In addition to Naghmeh's Abedini testimony, the panel of witnesses includes Sarah Hekmati, sister of former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati; Ali Rezaian, brother of The Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian; and Daniel Levinson, son of retired FBI agent Robert Levinson. All U.S. citizens held in Iran.
The U.S. State Department has acknowledged having talks with Iran to release the American prisoners on the "sidelines" of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, CAN reported.
A framework for the deal has been agreed to and the agreement is expected to be finalized this summer, but the fate of the prisoners is not directly tied to the deal.
Shortly after the June 2 hearing, the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution expressing "the sense of the House of Representatives that Iran should release all detained U.S. citizens.
It also called for the provision of any information it possesses regarding any U.S. citizens that have disappeared within its borders."