Allegation against Imprisoned American-Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini Says He was Commissioned by the White House

Allegation against Imprisoned American-Iranian Pastor Saeed Abedini Says He was Commissioned by the White House

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
IRAN (ANS) -- A website affiliated with Iranian Intelligence Service claims in a report that Pastor Saeed Abedini, the Iranian-American pastor, was commissioned by the White House and the "Evangelical Council" to pursue nine objectives in the Assemblies of God church in Tehran.

Mohabat News says this picture of Pastor Abedini and his wife, published on regime supported news websites, has been used to distort the image of Christian among readers.

According to a story by Mohabat News Iranian Christian News Agency, with Iranian presidential elections at hand, fundamentalists are accusing reformers of having secret relationships with Christian leaders in order to justify rejection of the reformist presidential candidates.Mohabat News said over the last few weeks, the Intelligence Service of the Islamic regime has tried in a number of ways to connect Christians with political and election-related activities.
Mohabat News commented, "Their primary objective is to portray the idea that former presidents, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani and Seyyed Mohammad Khatami have certain ties with Christians."
Naghmeh Abedini, wife of the imprisoned Pastor Saeed Abedini, said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that their wedding ceremony was held in a church in Iran when the reformist government was in power in Iran. She said that Christian activities were legal back in those days and that the reformist government knew about the house churches.
Mohabat News said websites affiliated with the Iranian Intelligence Service, one of them being Bultan News, claimed in an article entitled "The Reformist Government; Favorable for Zionist Christians," that Abedini was commissioned by the "Evangelical Council" and the White House to pursue nine objectives for the now closed Assemblies of God (AOG) church in Tehran.
Those nine objectives included planting illegal house churches in Tehran, spying by transmitting news from inside Iran directly to the White House, and recruiting Iranian orphans and recovering drug addicts to spy after they converted to Christianity.

Mohabat News said Bultan News continued in its article, "The AOG Church has four active branches in Iran with 45 years of presence in the country. Its congregation is (compried) of extremist Christians. They use different methods to promote their faith and convert Muslims into Christianity. They also want to portray an aggressive image of the Islamic Regime in Iran to the international community."
The author of the article has called believers in the AOG Church, "Zionist Christians." He has claimed that these Christians specifically target religious Iranian Muslims, and use a variety of different methods to attract people to their faith.
Mohabat News said the media, supported by the Islamic regime, are trying to create an environment that results in an even greater pressure on Iranian Christians.
Mohabat News commented, "By publishing unfounded allegations against Christians, they try to provoke the Iranian security and judicial authorities to increase their attacks against the Christian movement in Iran."