Christian Pastor Saeed Abedini says he feared for his life during his three-and-a-half years of imprisonment in Iran, and that he thought they were planning to kill him up until last year, according to a lawmaker who met with him Tuesday.
Abedini, 35, met with Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., on Tuesday at a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, where he has been receiving medical treatment and evaluation since his Jan. 16 release as part of a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Iran.
Pittenger, who has long advocated for Abedini’s release, reported that the Idaho pastor appeared in good shape physically but his mental and emotional state after such a long period of brutal treatment will take more time to assess.
“I know he’s ready to move on with his life,” Pittenger told the Washington Examiner Wednesday.
“He talked about where he is in his life now and said, ‘I’m a different person than I was when I went in,'” Pittenger recalled.
Pittenger was part of a U.S. delegation sent to greet the prisoners. Abedini was flown to the hospital with Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, who also had been held by Iran.
A fourth prisoner, Nosratallah Khosravi-Roodsari, reportedly chose to remain in Iran, and a fifth American, a student named Matthew Trevithick, also was released, but his release was considered part of a separate arrangement, and he left Iran on a commercial flight.
Abedini is expected to return to the United States on Thursday. His case was considered particularly sensitive because it involved religion. Abedini holds a dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship and converted to Christianity from Islam. He was arrested in September 2012 after trying to establish an orphanage in Iran, and was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of evangelizing, a crime that “threatened the national security of Iran.”
Abedini, who reportedly suffered beatings that resulted in internal bleeding, told Pittenger that he felt like they were planning on killing him until the congressman and others started speaking out about his plight.
Pittenger has worked since 2013 for Abedini’s release. He said Abedini is deeply grateful to the millions of people who prayed for him and publicly raised the issue of his imprisonment.
Pittenger and others spoke out about Abedini’s plight at an Iran democracy rally in Paris last June.
“I would prefer he tell the story,” Pittenger said. “But he stated to me that when I spoke in Paris at the democracy rally last summer, at the time he felt like they were planning to kill him, and I mentioned his name in my talk and they backed off.”
“The best leverage [with Iran] is always pressure,” he said.
During their meeting, Pittenger also said Abedini told him there was a sharp improvement in his treatment over the last few months when his captors started feeding him much better food and he realized they expected to release him.
Pittenger became involved in the effort to free Abedini after being contacted by Charlotte pastor David Chadwick and evangelist Franklin Graham. He has led several bipartisan efforts encouraging President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to take action and worked with Congressman Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., to request assistance from Pope Francis. Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh Abedini, was Pittenger’s guest during Francis’ address to Congress last fall.
