Imprisoned Pastor’s Wife Halts Public Advocacy, Citing Marital Abuse, Stress
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Naghmeh Abedini holds a necklace with a photograph of her husband, Saeed. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of imprisoned U.S. Pastor Saeed in Iran, has said she is suspending her public advocacy for her husband, which she has kept up for more than three years, citing continued psychological and sexual abuse in her marriage among other reasons.
She explained the reasons for pulling out her efforts in two emails she sent to some of her supporters. "It is very serious stuff and I cannot live a lie anymore. So, I have decided to take a break from everything and seek the Lord on how to move forward," she wrote, according to Christianity Today.
She also spoke about "physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse (through Saeed's addiction to pornography)," which, she disclosed, started in the early days of their marriage and increased during her husband's imprisonment in 2012 as they spoke on phone and Skype.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Naghmeh said she has no doubt that her husband truly believes in Jesus despite his time in one of the most dangerous prisons in the world and where he has sustained prolonged internal injuries due to beatings. "But that does not mean he has not been battling with his own demons which I am believing that he can be freed of."
She urged her supporters "to pray for real things (I have opened myself up to you), but without judgment and without losing your love for your brother Saeed who is fighting for his life in the dark prison."