Pastor freed by Iran to reunite with wife at North Carolina retreat

chika ebuzor

January 26, 2016 5:14 AM

Abedini's wife, Naghmeh, also told Reuters last week the couple would work on their marriage. She said in a message to supporters that became public that her husband had been abusive and suffered from a pornography addiction.

Pastor Saeed Abedini

Saeed Abedini, an American pastor freed this month from an Iranian prison as part of a U.S.-Iranian prisoner swap, will be reunited with his wife and children on Monday at a Christian center in the North Carolina mountains.

The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, founded by the famed evangelical minister and his family, said Abedini wanted time to adjust and reconnect with his family after more than three years of imprisonment in Iran.

Abedini arrived at the Asheville, North Carolina, center on Thursday. He and his avid supporter Franklin Graham, Billy Graham's son, have so far declined comment.

A spokesman also declined to say what resources would be made available at the center, known as a retreat to hear speakers, hike and pray.

"I'm sure they're praying ... trying to find out where he is spiritually right now," said Joe Nesbitt, an Asheville-based Christian counselor with Grace Life International, who has spent time at the Cove.

Abedini, 35, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was sentenced by an Iranian court in 2013 to eight years in prison for allegedly compromising Iran's national security by setting up home-based Christian churches there.

He was arrested after returning to Iran for what was supposed to be a short trip to set up an orphanage.

Abedini was one of five Americans released by Iran in exchange for clemency to seven Iranians who were convicted or facing trial in the United States. The swap was announced at the same time as international sanctions on Iran were lifted in a deal with the United States and other major powers to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

chika ebuzor