{"id":5615,"date":"2016-09-25T23:34:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T04:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2016-09-25T23:34:43","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T04:34:43","slug":"pastor-abedini-i-was-a-bargaining-chip-what-i-wanted-to-tell-congress-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/2016\/09\/25\/pastor-abedini-i-was-a-bargaining-chip-what-i-wanted-to-tell-congress-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Abedini: \u2018I was a bargaining chip\u2019 \u2013 What I wanted to tell Congress + Video"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pastor<\/a>
Pastor Saeed Abedini speaking to Fox News TV<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Pastor Saeed Abedini, Lela Gilbert<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may recognize my name. I\u2019ve been in the news recently because I was one of the three prisoners with dual US-Iranian citizenship that Iran released in January. This week I was scheduled to testify to a congressional committee but my testimony was cancelled.
\nI was set free the same day that the Obama administration paid the Iranian government $400 million dollars in cash.<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.mojahedin.org\/links\/other\/2016925_SpecilaClip_10338670.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s how it happened:
\n<\/strong>I was born in Tehran, Iran in 1980, and grew up in a devout Shi\u2019a Muslim home.
\nI knew some people involved in the process legitimately cared about me, but I also know the truth. I am not free because I am a U.S. citizen. I am free because I was useful for negotiations. And only for a brief moment in time. If I hadn’t been useful I would still be there.
\nWhen I was 14 years old, Hezbollah \u2013 the Iranian terrorist militia \u2013 recruited me. They said I was one of \u201cthe best and the brightest\u201d of young Iranians and they had big plans to groom me as a jihadi warrior, fighting Iran\u2019s enemies.
\nAt first I was dazzled by this golden opportunity, but didn\u2019t take long to figure out that the mullahs who were in charge were not especially pure and righteous.
\nMore and more I asked myself, \u201cIs this really Islam?\u201d
\nA few years later, I left Islam altogether. In 2000, I converted to Christianity and gained a wonderful new life.
\nBut it was a dangerous decision.
\nEven more dangerous was my preaching. But, I was determined to serve God and not man.
\nThen, on September 26, 2012, I was arrested and locked up in Iran\u2019s notorious Evin Prison <\/a>.
\nThe cruelty of Iran\u2019s prison system is notorious. They violate the human rights of those imprisoned for sport. I was severely beaten during interrogations, kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time, lied to, threatened, and frequently abused. On one occasion, I suffered life-threatening internal injuries. This continued for 3 and a half years. I am a U.S. citizen.
\nThen, on January 16, 2016, a prison guard roughly awakened me.
\nNow what?
\nI had been through so much violence and deception that I didn\u2019t know what to expect.
\nI prayed and tried to calm myself, but remained uneasy, even when I was told that I was to be released and flown to America.
\nSoon two other American prisoners and I were driven from Evin Prison to Mehrabad Airport.
\n\u201cThe plane and the pilot and everybody else is ready,\u201d one of my former interrogators told me. \u201cYou\u2019re going to be free.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t happen that way. At the airport, we waited while an Iranian intelligence officer talked on a cellphone just beyond our hearing.
\n\u201cSomething has gone wrong,\u201d he reported after he hung up, \u201cand you can\u2019t leave yet.\u201d
\nInstead, the three of us were led into a closed room \u2013 no windows, no way out, no further information.\u00a0 We guessed that the Iranian authorities were playing psychological games with us. Again. It was one of their favorite tactics.
\nAfter many hours, we heard the latest spin: Our plane couldn\u2019t take off until another aircraft had arrived.
\nSomething was also said about money changing hands.
\nAt the time I didn\u2019t believe it \u2013 I thought America would never give Iran money. As much as I was concerned for my own wellbeing, I knew the mullahs. I knew they would use that money to torture thousands more people, maybe hundreds of thousands. They would use it to boost their power on the backs of the millions of Iranians who are good people and who want freedom.
\nI wanted to be free so badly, but I didn\u2019t want my freedom to cause more death and more torture.
\nIn the end, it wasn\u2019t my decision.
\nWe tried to sleep as we awaited our release, increasingly unsure what the next day would bring.
\nFinally, after 20 hours we were led to a plane. We buckled ourselves in and I breathed a sigh of relief when the aircraft finally left the ground.
\nOnly months later did I learn about the $400 million in cash that was loaded on the \u201cother\u201d airplane.
\nThat\u2019s why I\u2019m speaking out now.
\nI knew some people involved in the process legitimately cared about me, but I also know the truth. I am not free because I am a US Citizen. I am free because I was useful for negotiations. And only for a brief moment in time. If I hadn’t been useful I would still be there.
\nDuring the 3 and a half years of my imprisonment, there was no income for my family. When I returned to America, I was virtually homeless. My wife, my family and I were victims of unbelievable trauma. We are still suffering because of it in countless, painful ways.
\nYet I was informed when our flight from Iran landed in Germany that I would have to buy my own plane ticket back to the US. They didn\u2019t even intend on helping me get home. Without the kindness of friends like the Rev. Franklin Graham, I would have been stranded in Germany. In spite of all I had experienced, I felt completely dispensable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How could so many people go to such great lengths, including an airplane full of $400 million in cash, and yet a plane ticket home for me was, as I was told, \u201cnot in the budget.\u201d
\nI love America and am proud and honored to be an American citizen. I am so grateful for all those who advocated for my release: pastors and church-goers, Democrats and Republicans.
\nBut it is clear to me that I was a bargaining chip in a much larger political game. And once that process was over, well, I nearly had to buy my own plane ticket home.
\nToday I am deeply thankful to God and the United States that I\u2019m free. Please, do not read an ounce of ingratitude in this.
\nBut as a Christian, I was willing to die for my faith.
\nNow for the rest of my life I will wonder if my freedom has made it financially possible for Iran to abuse and imprison countless others \u2013 those like me who reject their radical theology and dictatorial oppression.
\nIf that\u2019s the case, I pray I can make up for it with my own courage and commitment. The Iranian regime is the single greatest financier of terrorism in the world and the foremost abuser of human rights.\u00a0 They kill innocent people for fun. I\u2019ve seen it with my own eyes. Now they can kill with some American money.
\nFor the rest of my life I will stand against the Iranian regime, and for the rest of my life I will oppose anyone who enables their evil.
\nThat\u2019s what I would have told Congress this week if I had the chance.<\/p>\n

Saeed Abedini is an Iranian American citizen, a Christian convert from Islam, a speaker, and an advocate for human rights and religious freedom.<\/span> <\/em><\/p>\n

Source: Fox News, September 21, 2016<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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