Christian ‘Gadfly’ arrested outside the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, is being deported back to the United States

Christian ‘Gadfly’ arrested outside the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, is being deported back to the United States
The Rev. Eddie Perez Romero was held by Iranian authorities for 32 hours after protesting on behalf of five prisoners of faith, including U.S. Pastor, Saeed Abedini

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- The Rev. Eddie Perez Romero, a Southern California pastor who staged a protest on behalf of five prisoners of faith, including Saeed Abedini, outside the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, on Monday, October 21, 2013, is being deported back to the United States.

Romero, a minister at the Hacienda Christian Fellowship, La Puente, who also goes by the name of “Gadfly”, was arrested at 9:00 a.m. (Tehran time) on Monday, October 21, 2013, after staging a protest on behalf of the five prisoners.

Now, according to a statement made available to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), by his organization, exodust8one (http://exodus8one.org) Romero has been freed and is hoping to soon be on his way back to Los Angeles.

The statement said that his family has just received word that after being detained 32 hours by the government, he has been freed.

It added, “He is being deported back home to Los Angeles. Pastor Eddie is currently staying at the Swiss Embassy, and has made travel arrangements. We will know by 11:30 p.m. tonight if he has made it out of the country safely.”

Pastor Romero, who made headlines in 2008 when he was arrested in China for his human rights activism at the Beijing Olympics, had gone to Evin Prison at 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning in Tehran.

Three days earlier he left his tour group in Tehran and went into hiding until the event during which he made a “declaration of protest” and then surrendered to the authorities.
The prisoners he was protesting on behalf are:

1. Farshid Fathi, an Iranian Christian pastor
2. Saeed Abedini, a naturalized American citizen from Iran who started an orphanage in Tehran and was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison
3. Mostafa Bordbar, a Christian activist
4. Alireza Seyyedian, a member of a Christian house church
5. Mohammed Ali Dadkhah, a prominent human rights lawyer in Tehran and co-founder of Defenders of Human Rights in Iran

The spokesperson has asked people around the world to “pray for safety as he travels unescorted out of the country, especially the ride from the Embassy to the airport, there is still a chance of the government changing its mind and making it difficult to leave.”

Also, it was requested for people to pray “for many opportunities to share his story and that of the prisoners as he returns.”

A group from his church are planning to meet him at the Los Angeles International Airport if all goes well for his flight out of Iran, and he is expected to then make a statement to the press about these five prisoners.

         See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net