The wife of a Boise pastor imprisoned in his native Iran for nearly a year now says she’s not expecting to see her husband for at least another year.
Naghmeh Abedini says she was devastated when she recently learned her husband’s eight year sentence had been upheld by Iranian judges.
Saeed Abedini went to Iran last summer to help build an orphanage. A convert to Christianity, he was arrested by the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard during the trip. Supporters say he was put in prison because of his faith.
“I can’t think about the eight years,” Naghmeh Abedini says. “I think about a year, max. That’s how I’ve been able to survive it.”
Mrs. Abedini has been critical of the U.S. government for not doing more to push Iran to release her husband. Secretary of State John Kerry has called for his release, but President Barack Obama has not.
“When our government speaks, different doors will open with other countries,” she says. “A lot of government look to America still. So when [the president] speaks, he’s making a statement not only internally but he’s making a loud statement to other countries that this is a very critical issue for us. And it will open more doors in pursuing Saeed’s freedom.”
Mrs. Abedini says she was a “homebody” who didn’t like airplanes, before her husband’s imprisonment. Now, she travels about three weeks out of every month to advocate for her husband’s release.
Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio