{"id":1965,"date":"2013-01-09T21:03:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-09T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/one-iranian-pastor-freed-another-remains-imprisoned\/"},"modified":"2013-01-09T21:03:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T21:03:00","slug":"one-iranian-pastor-freed-another-remains-imprisoned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/one-iranian-pastor-freed-another-remains-imprisoned\/","title":{"rendered":"One Iranian pastor freed, another remains imprisoned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Jan 9, 2013 \/ 02:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Reports in Iran indicate that a Christian pastor who was arrested on Christmas Day has been released, while a second pastor remains in prison for his religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIran must not be allowed to persecute individuals because of their faith,\u201d stressed Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based American Center for Law and Justice, which has been monitoring the plight of Christians in Iran.<\/p>\n

\tIn a Jan. 7 blog post, Sekulow relayed news of Christian pastor Yousef Nadarkhani\u2019s release from prison in Iran after being arrested on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

\tThe 35-year-old pastor was originally arrested in 2009 after complaining to local authorities about his son being forced to read the Quran at school. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\tFound guilty of apostasy for converting from Islam to Christianity, Nadarkhani was ordered to recant or face execution. But despite numerous threats, he refused to abandon his Christian beliefs.<\/p>\n

\tAn execution order for the pastor was reported in February 2012. As fears of a secret execution grew, the American Center for Law and Justice worked to keep an international spotlight on the situation, prompting pressure from the United States, the United Nations and Brazil, which has a key economic partnership with Iran.<\/p>\n

\tAmid increasing calls for the pastor's freedom, Nadarkhani was acquitted in September 2012. While the court preserved his three-year sentence for \u201cevangelizing to Muslims,\u201d it determined that his time spent in prison was adequate, and the remaining time \u2013 about 45 days \u2013 could be served on probation. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\tHowever, on Christmas Day, Iranian sources reported that the pastor was re-arrested and order to serve the remainder of his sentence in jail.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tReligious liberty advocates immediately raised concerns, noting not only that Iran had violated the terms of the pastor\u2019s release, but also that his attorney, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, had been imprisoned as well.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tSekulow observed that Nadarkhani \u201chas become the face of persecution around the world\u201d and explained his re-arrest on Christmas Day demonstrates Iran\u2019s intention of making him an example \u201cto intimidate people of minority faiths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe pastor\u2019s release was \u201ca direct result of people across the world standing up and demanding his freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tBut while he welcomed Nadarkhani\u2019s freedom, Sekulow also emphasized that another Christian pastor, Saeed Abedini, remains imprisoned in Iran for his faith.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tAfter converting from Islam to Christianity, Abedini \u2013 who is a U.S. citizen \u2013 drew the ire of Iranian officials for helping to start house churches in the country. In 2009, he reached an agreement with the Iranian government that permitted him to travel freely in the country if he stopped working with these underground churches.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe 32-year-old pastor then shifted his focus towards humanitarian efforts with non-religious Iranian orphanages, according to his wife. However, during a September trip to visit his parents and work with these orphanages, he was arrested.<\/p>\n

\tHe is now being held in one of Iran\u2019s \u201cmost notoriously brutal and abusive prisons,\u201d Sekulow warned.<\/p>\n

\tAbedini\u2019s family members in Iran are currently under house arrest, while his wife and young children are in the U.S., working to secure his freedom and speaking up about the toll his imprisonment has taken on the family.<\/p>\n

\tThe American Center for Law and Justice has launched a petition calling on the U.S. government to take action on behalf of Abedini. That petition has drawn more than 64,000 signatures so far.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIran is watching and responds to immense international pressure,\u201d Sekulow emphasized, calling for renewed efforts and prayers for the pastor.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe must continue to demand that Iran stop abusing and persecuting Christians and those willing to defend human rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Jan 9, 2013 \/ 02:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Reports in Iran indicate that a Christian pastor who was arrested on Christmas Day has been released, while a second pastor remains in prison for his religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\t“Iran must not b…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nOne Iranian pastor freed, another remains imprisoned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Jan 9, 2013 \/ 02:03 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Reports in Iran indicate that a Christian pastor who was arrested on Christmas Day has been released, while a second pastor remains in prison for his religious beliefs. “Iran must not b...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/one-iranian-pastor-freed-another-remains-imprisoned\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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