ICC Note: Pastor Saeed, finally in the US with his family, revealed that the ‘hardest thing’ he faced in Iranian prison was the months and months of solitary confinement with no books or communication to the outside world. This type of emotional deprivation was in addition to the severe beatings and torture he sustained in prison on charges related to his work setting up orphanages for children within Iran.
1/26/2016 Iran (WND News) – Saeed Abedini, the Christian preacher and American citizen who was held captive in Iran due to his Christian faith, revealed the hardest thing about his more than three-year detainment during an interview this week with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren.
Abedini said that, in addition to beatings and poor treatment, the “hardest thing” he faced in prison was being kept in the same room for months without books or other activities to occupy himself.
At one point, he said that both he and Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine who was also held in Iran and was released along with Abedini as part of a landmark prisoner swap, were in the same confinement room together.
“That was the hardest thing in prison, especially in solitary like that, because there is nothing to do,” Abedini said. “I made a plan that I could talk to [Hekmati], encourage him and, mostly, I was praying.”
Abedini said that he would, many times, pray for hours, sometimes finding himself appealing to the Lord for more than 20 hours in one day.
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