Naghmeh Abedini is hoping the moral authority of Pope Francis will help convince Iran to release her husband as the third anniversary of his captivity approaches.
Her husband, Christian minister Saeed Abedini, is one of four Americans either imprisoned in Iran or missing there under questionable circumstances. The fates of the four have dogged the White House as it tries to push through President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran against determined opposition from Republicans and some Democrats.
Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief and former Marine Amir Hekmati are also jailed in Iran on espionage charges that Washington insists are unwarranted. U.S. officials also are unsure of the fate of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared inside Iran in 2007 while on what was later reported to have been a rogue CIA mission.
Saeed Abedini hasn’t seen his wife or two children, Rebekka, 9, and Jacob, 7, since leaving for Iran in June 2012. On Saturday, he’ll mark three years since he was sent to prison, where torture and poor treatment have left him with severe medical problems, his wife said.
His captivity also has weighed heavily on his family, she said. “Every single day we wake up with an excruciating pain,” she told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
The pope arrived Tuesday in Washington and is set to meet Wednesday with Obama. Politico reported Monday that Obama plans to ask the pope to intercede with Iranian authorities on behalf of the four Americans during their meeting. Naghmeh Abedini sees this as a positive development, since Iran’s government seems to respect Francis. U.S. officials say they continue to raise the issue directly with Tehran, but have so far been rebuffed.
“It’s been always my hope that the pope would get involved,” she said. “He has a powerful voice to the Iranian government.”
On Thursday, Naghmeh Abedini is set to attend the pope’s address to a joint meeting of Congress as a guest of Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., one of many lawmakers who has pushed the administration to do more to free her husband and other U.S. captives.
The lawmakers have been unable to force the administration to link the fates of the arrested Americans to the lifting of U.S. sanctions as required by the nuclear deal. Through two years of talks, administration officials have insisted that the nuclear deal is a priority, in spite of harsh criticism that they squandered leverage to get Tehran to release the captives and account for Levinson’s fate.
Frustrated by the administration’s inability to secure the captives’ release, Pittenger has introduced a resolution in the House calling on Iran to free Saeed Abedini and others jailed for their religious beliefs, and GOP Sen. James Risch of Idaho has proposed legislation barring the president from relieving sanctions against Iran until he and the others are free.
Naghmeh Abedini said she’s grateful for the lawmakers’ support, and hopes to be able to personally lobby the pope on her husband’s behalf when he comes to Capitol Hill.
“I hope for the pope to see the personal story of a family that is suffering persecution,” she said.
