Free Republic

As the families of U.S. hostages currently held in Iran have struggled for years to rally the determination to bring their loved ones home, newly released emails from the former secretary of State reveal the infuriating truth that those with connections get their case raised to the top. In 2009, Iason Athanasiadis was covering the protests of the disputed election win of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Mir-Hossein Mousavi for the Washington Times. The Greek citizen was detained by Iranian authorities on June 17, 2009, as he tried to fly out of the country. Athanasiadis was thrown in Evin prison and released...

The wife of an American pastor who was imprisoned for nearly four years in Iran filed court documents to legally separate from him the same day he returned home to Idaho, court records show. Saeed Abedini was one of four Americans released in Iran under a negotiated prisoner exchange on Jan. 16. The U.S. agreed to free seven Iranians as part of the agreement.

Every American should be glad that American hostages have been freed by the tyrannical Iranian regime and are being reunited with family, friends and co-workers. Less satisfying is the return of Iran's $400 million trust fund, used to buy military equipment, which was frozen in 1979, along with its diplomatic relations with the U.S. (plus what President Obama ludicrously called "appropriate interest" of $1.3 billion), all returned to what the U.S. State Department branded the world's "preeminent sponsor of terrorism." Expecting Iran to use this windfall for purposes other than terrorism would be like expecting a kidnapper to donate the...

Southern California pastor Greg Laurie, who led prayer rallies for the release of American pastor Saeed Abedini from an Iranian prison where he was held captive for more than three years, said Abedini's freedom, announced on Saturday, occurred in God's perfect timing. "Christians around the world have been praying faithfully for the release of Pastor Saeed Abedini," Laurie told this reporter late Saturday. "It did not happen as quickly as we had hoped, but it happened in God's perfect timing. Now we want to remember to continue to pray for Saeed, his wife, Naghmeh, and their children as they are...

Some incredible news Saturday morning out of Iran, if you can believe it: The nation has released 4 U.S. prisoners, according to FARS, Iran's semi-official news agency. Among those released are Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati, and Nosratollah Khosrawi. They were all being held on various charges. "Based on an approval of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the general interests of the Islamic Republic, four Iranian prisoners with dual-nationality were freed today within the framework of a prisoner swap deal," the Tehran prosecutor's said, the news agency reports. Their release...

Because Cruz kept a repeat offender in prison, Brooks says he's not a good Christian. David Brooks does not like Ted Cruz. In an escalating series of attacks, Brooks has gone from saying that Cruz doesn't "live within the confines of reality" and is "nakedly ambitious" - a "selfish Machiavellian" - to now saying that Cruz's rhetoric is "Satanic" or perhaps "Mephistophelian." But Brooks really tears into Cruz in his latest column, arguing that his speeches are "marked by what you might call pagan brutalism." He claims that Cruz's "career and public presentation" are devoid of "the Christian virtues: humility,...

Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini, has slammed the apparent offer by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to free her husband in exchange for releasing Iranian prisoners being held in the United States. Naghmeh argued that her husband is not "collateral" to be treated as such. "My husband is not collateral. He is a father and a man who broke no law. Yet Iran is treating him like a pawn in a game of chess. President Rouhani's demand that America release 19 criminals in exchange for his consideration of releasing individuals like my husband, imprisoned solely for...

President Barack Obama's administration has warned that it will veto a proposed amendment that would require the release of Pastor Saeed Abedini and three other American citizens held prisoners in Iran before any final nuclear deal agreement is reached. The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents Abedini's family, called the admittance "despicable" and "outrageous." "That is simply unbelievable. Refusing to discuss the Americans being held hostage by Iran at the bargaining table and rejecting any congressional attempt to make any deal with Iran contingent on the release of the Americans is unacceptable. It's quite frankly appalling," the law...

President Obama again called on Iran to release U.S. Pastor Saeed Abedini, who has been in a jail for his Christian faith for nearly two-and-a-half years, as the Middle Eastern nation celebrates the Nowruz holiday, a festival of spring and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar. "Today, as families across the world gather to mark this holiday, we remember those American families who are enduring painful separations from their loved ones who are imprisoned or went missing in Iran," Obama said in a statement. "Saeed Abedini of Boise, Idaho has spent two and a half years detained...

There are many across the political spectrum that will claim Barack Obama has let them down at some point over the last six and a half years. The reasons for their disappointment with the Obama presidency vary. Regardless of political persuasion, everyone should agree that among the greatest disappointments of this administration is its failure to secure the release of Saeed Abedini. This American citizen has been imprisoned, beaten, tortured, and denied medical treatment in an Iranian prison for the “crime” of sharing his religious faith. Any other administration in American history would have already secured his release. That is,...

Iran’s supreme leader seized on Islamic terrorists’ murder of Christians by asserting this week that since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Muslims in Iran have never committed offenses against non-Muslims. Religious freedom activists consider the Iranian regime to be among the world’s worst persecutors of Christians, Baha’i and other non-Shi’ite Muslim minorities. “In Iran after Islamic Revolution, there is no record of an offense being done by Muslims ag[ai]nst non-Muslims,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted to his one hundred thousand Twitter followers. …

Taking the stage at the Values Voter Summit Gala with her husband, Daniel Wani, Meriam Ibrahim encouraged Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini, with stories about caring for her children Martin and Maya. With the help of an interpreter, Ibrahim called Naghmeh Abdini "her sister" and told her "Do not fear; be strong. Take care of your kids and the Lord will be with you." Naghmeh Abedini shared a video during the gala from her children. In the video, 6-year-old Jacob said his heart is "crying" because he "misses Daddy a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot, lot,...

The Tea Party favorite loves to needle Team Obama. But in an interview, Cruz also reveals a new kind of conservative foreign policy: American exceptionalism without the nation building.One way to understand Ted Cruz’s foreign policy, particularly if you are a Democrat, is through the prism of the social media phenomenon known as trolling. The best trolls are provocateurs. Their language is meant to expose a fallacy or weakness in the opponent’s position as opposed to offering a constructive alternative. In a wide-ranging interview with the junior senator from Texas, there was a lot of trolling. Of Obama’s recent attempt...

The wife of imprisoned American pastor Saeed Abedini says she and her family are devastated after learning that the Obama administration did not try to secure the release of her husband as part of the newly signed deal on Iran's nuclear program.

On Sunday, November 10, Anugrah Kumar of The Christian Post reported that Sen. Ted Cruz continues in his efforts to help U.S. pastor Saeed Abedini, who is serving an eight year prison sentence in Iran for allegedly undermining national security. Abedini was arrested in 2012 because several years ago he helped start about 100 small Christian churches in Iran before he moved to the U.S. and became a pastor at a church in Boise, Id. Abedini is an American citizen now, but authorities in Iran seized his passports and sentenced him to house arrest anyway before moving him to Evin...

No, he’s not praying that Barack Obama will overturn Obamacare and no, he’s not praying that he will occupy the presidency one day. Instead, he’s alongside Rev. Rob Schenck (from Faith and Action) and Rev. Frazier White (a Democrat and Obama supporter) praying for Saeed Abedini, who has been in an Iranian prison for one year. He is being persecuted for his faith to Jesus Christ. Who says Ted Cruz isn’t bipartisan? I have not only interviewed Ted Cruz many times, but I have spent time with him and his family. He is true Bible-believing Christian who is not ashamed...

The American pastor jailed in Iran for his faith has been placed in solitary confinement and may now be suffering organ failure, according to family members in Iran who are increasingly alarmed at his deteriorating health. Saeed Abedini, the 32-year-old Christian and American citizen who is serving an eight-year prison term in Iran, was put in solitary confinement following a “peaceful, silent protest” in an outside courtyard at Iran’s notoriously brutal Evin prison, according to family members. Conditions at the prison prompted Abedini and other prisoners to sign a petition decrying the lack of medical care and the threats and...

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a first-ever statement from his office on the case of imprisoned Iranian-American Saeed Abedini, called Friday for Abedini to be “immediately released” and said he is “disturbed” by reports that he’s suffered physical and psychological abuse at the Iranian prison where he’s being held.

The wife of an American pastor held captive in an Iranian prison for nearly a year tells me the Obama Administration has not done anything to help free her husband – and the law firm representing the family believes it’s because the pastor is a Christian who converted from Islam. “I have not received a telephone call from President Obama,” said Naghmeh Abedini, wife of Rev. Saeed Abedini – in an exclusive interview. “I have not received a telephone call from Secretary of State John Kerry – unfortunately.” Her husband is serving an eight year sentence in one of Iran’s...

Newly confirmed Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Iran’s “continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion” and urged the release of an American Christian pastor imprisoned for his religious beliefs. In a written response to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to questions during his confirmation hearing last week obtained by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Kerry, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, said he is “deeply concerned” about Saeed Abedini, who was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his Christian faith on Sunday. … Abedini, 32, who is from Boise, Idaho, has been jailed in Iran...