Tag Archives: National Security Council

News, Politics, Government

Japanese PM may push nationalism after election

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With the economy perking up under his “Abenomics” policies, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his ruling bloc are seen rolling to a convincing victory in Sunday’s upper house election and regaining control of both houses of parliament for the first time in six years.

A win would be sweet redemption for Abe, who lost the upper house in 2007 during an earlier stint as prime minister, and make it easier for him to govern. He says his top priorities are regaining political stability and reviving the long-stagnant economy, the chief concern for voters. But a decisive victory could also embolden him on another front: the nationalistic agenda he had to abandon his first time in office.

“He may hear that internal voice saying, `This is the time for you to pursue your own goals,’ ” said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

Abe owes his rise to prime minister in part to right-wing supporters in his party who expect him to pursue their agenda. That may include laying the groundwork for revising Japan’s pacifist constitution, promoting traditional family values and making changes to the education system to instill more patriotism in students. Abe has called the current history curriculum “self-abusive” and too apologetic to Asian neighbors over Japan’s wartime actions.

He needs to tread carefully, however, because any step-up in nationalism would likely exacerbate already tense ties with nearby China and South Korea. He has already upset both since taking office in December by saying he wants to revise Japan’s landmark 1995 apology for its wartime aggression and questioning the extent to which Korean, Chinese and other Asian women were coerced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers.

A further deterioration in relations with China and South Korea would be worrisome for the United States as it seeks to engage more deeply in the Asia-Pacific region. To the extent that nationalism translates into a stronger military, though, some would welcome that as a counter to rising Chinese power.

“Being a nationalist means devoting your political effort to making your country stronger,” former U.S. National Security Council staffer Mike Green said recently at the Japan National Press Club. “That’s exactly what Japan needs, and that’s exactly what the U.S. needs from Japan.”

Under the campaign slogan “Recover Japan,” Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party vows to make Japan a muscular, gentle and proud country. It promises a strong economy, strategic diplomacy and unshakable national security under the Japan-U.S. alliance.

The message has found a measure of public receptivity amid growing tensions over Japan’s long-running maritime territorial disputes with China and South Korea and widespread distrust of an increasingly assertive China.

But the top concern for voters is the economy, which is showing signs of life thanks to aggressive monetary easing and public works spending, the first two “arrows” of Abe’s economic platform dubbed “Abenomics.”

Surveys show that after the economy and jobs, voters are most interested in social security, the sales tax hike and reconstruction after the March 2011 tsunami. The constitution, energy and trade attract the least …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

South Koreans leave joint factory park as North warns embassies on safety

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More South Koreans on Saturday began to leave North Korea and the factory park where they work, four days after Pyongyang closed the border to people and goods.

Twenty-one South Koreans returned from the Kaesong industrial park Saturday morning, and about 100 of the roughly 600 still there were expected to return home by day’s end, the Unification Ministry in Seoul said.

One manager, Han Nam-il, interviewed as he left, said he saw North Korean security officials “fully armed” before he crossed the border.

The industrial park is the last remnant of North-South cooperation. Pyongyang’s blocking of traffic there is among many provocative moves it has made recently in anger over U.N. sanctions for its Feb. 12 nuclear test and current U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The communist dictatorship deployed mid-range missile launchers to its east coast and reportedly warned foreign embassies Friday it cannot guarantee the safety of diplomats after April 10.

Reuters reported early Friday that North Korea deployed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hid them on the east coast of the country, citing a South Korean news agency.

Earlier in the week, North Korea said it would restart a plutonium reactor closed in 2007 and use it to make fuel for nuclear bombs.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom foreign office confirmed in a statement Friday that North Korea asked a number of foreign embassies in Pyongyang to consider moving staff out since they could not assure their safety in the event of conflict.

“We are consulting international partners about these developments. No decisions have been taken, and we have no immediate plans to withdraw our Embassy,” the UK foreign office statement said.

Under the Vienna Convention that governs diplomatic missions, host governments are required to assist in the evacuation of embassy staff from the country in the event of conflict.

North Korea has railed for weeks against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

“The current question was not whether, but when a war would break out on the peninsula,” because of the “increasing threat from the United States“, China‘s state news agency Xinhua quoted the North’s Foreign Ministry as saying, according to a Reuters report.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden has called North Korea‘s threats “unhelpful and unconstructive.”

“It is yet another offering in a long line of provocative statements that only serve to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the international community and undermine its goal of economic development,” she said. “North Korea should stop its provocative threats and instead concentrate on abiding by its international obligations.”

North Korea said last week it had entered a “state of war” with South Korea, but officials in Seoul say they have seen no preparations for a full-scale attack while the chance of a localized conflict remains. Earlier Pyongyang threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.

North Korea has not forced South Korean workers to leave Kaesong, but some of the South Korean companies working there are running …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

US helped Czech Republic remove nuclear material

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With help from the U.S., the Czech Republic has eliminated its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, becoming the 10th country to remove all such material since President Barack Obama began pushing to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the White House said Friday.

The announcement came on the fourth anniversary of a speech Obama delivered in the Czech capital of Prague shortly after taking office in 2009. He declared nuclear terrorism the world’s greatest threat and called on other countries to secure their stockpiles of nuclear material.

The United States and its international partners helped remove 68 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, about 150 pounds, from the Czech Republic, said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden. The material, enough for two nuclear weapons, was sent by secure transport to Russia to be converted into low-enriched uranium for use in nuclear power reactors, she said.

Unlike highly enriched uranium, low-enriched uranium cannot be used to make a nuclear weapon.

More than 3,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium and plutonium, enough for dozens of nuclear weapons, have been removed since Obama‘s speech in Prague on April 5, 2009, according to the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, an agency of the Department of Energy.

“Today we can say without a doubt that the world is safer from nuclear terrorism than it was four years ago,” said Neile Miller, the agency’s acting administrator.

The hardest part of building an atomic bomb, according to arms control experts, is acquiring the weapons-grade uranium or plutonium needed for the bomb’s explosive core. Locking up or eliminating this material is crucial to preventing nuclear-armed terror.

The U.S. is also working with Uzbekistan, Hungary and Vietnam to remove weapons-grade material from those countries by the end of the year.

In his speech four years ago, Obama called nuclear weapons “the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War.”

“Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be checked, that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction,” he said. “This fatalism is a deadly adversary. For if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable.”

…read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

News, Politics, Government

North Korea's missile launchers on the move, indicating possible new provocation

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North Korea has begun moving its mid-range missile launchers, possibly indicating a looming test as tensions are already boiling on the peninsula, U.S. officials told Fox News.

Earlier Thursday, South Korea said North Korea moved a missile with “considerable range” to its east coast after an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean army warned the U.S. Wednesday that its military has been cleared to wage an attack using “smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear” weapons.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin dismissed reports in the Japanese and South Korean media that the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range missile that if operable could hit the United States.

Kim told lawmakers at a hearing that the missile’s range is considerable but not far enough to hit the U.S. mainland. He said he did not know the reasons behind the missile movement, saying it “could be for testing or drills.”

The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, which has a range of 1,800 miles. That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets, but little is known about the missile’s accuracy.

North Korea has railed for weeks against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden has called North Korea‘s threats “unhelpful and unconstructive.”

“It is yet another offering in a long line of provocative statements that only serve to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the international community and undermine its goal of economic development,” she said. “North Korea should stop its provocative threats and instead concentrate on abiding by its international obligations.”

Russia said Thursday that North Korea‘s disregard for the U.N. sanctions is hurting the chances of resuming stalled six-party nuclear talks, Reuters reports.

“Attempts by Pyongyang to violate … decisions of the U.N. Security Council are categorically unacceptable,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said during a briefing.

Despite North Korea‘s rhetoric, analysts say they do not expect a nuclear attack, which knows the move could trigger a destructive, suicidal war that no one in the region wants.

But following through on one threat Wednesday, North Korean border authorities refused to allow entry to South Koreans who manage jointly run factories in the North Korean city of Kaesong.

Washington calls the military drills, which this time have incorporated fighter jets and nuclear-capable stealth bombers, routine annual exercises between the allies. Pyongyang calls them rehearsals for a northward invasion.

The foes fought on opposite sides of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953. The divided Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war six decades later, and Washington keeps 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect its ally.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington was doing all it can to defuse the situation, echoing comments a day earlier by Secretary of State John Kerry.

“Some of the actions they’ve taken over the last few weeks present a real and …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Hagel: B-2s not intended to provoke North Korea

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America’s unprecedented decision to send nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to drop dummy munitions during military drills with South Korea this week was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.

Hagel acknowledged, however, that North Korea‘s belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region, “and we have to understand that reality.”

Speaking to Pentagon reporters, both Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the B-2 bombers were a message intended more for allies than Pyongyang.

“The North Koreans have to understand that what they’re doing is very dangerous,” Hagel said. “I don’t think we’re doing anything extraordinary or provocative or out of the … orbit of what nations do to protect their own interests.” The U.S., he added, must make it clear to South Korea, Japan and other allies in the region that “these provocations by the North are taken by us very seriously and we’ll respond to that.”

U.S. Forces Korea announced in a statement Thursday that two B-2 stealth bombers flew from an air base in Missouri and dropped dummy munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home. While B-2 bombers have been used in past military exercises, including one in 2000 that included flights over South Korea, this is the first time that dummy munitions were dropped, according to the Pentagon.

The joint drills are likely to heighten the already escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea that have played out in recent weeks, including Pyongyang’s threat to carry out nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul. North Korea has ramped up its rhetoric in response to the recent U.S. military exercises and also the U.N. sanctions over North Korea‘s nuclear test last month.

Use of the stealthy B-2 bombers added something of an exclamation point to the training mission, which had already included older but also nuclear-capable B-52 bombers.

“They’re telling the North Koreans, we can attack you in ways in which you can see us coming, and we can also attack you potentially in ways in which you cannot see us coming,” said retired Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, a North Korean intelligence expert who served on the Joint Staff and the National Security Council. “So it’s a message to the North Koreans that they have to be very careful how they proceed next with their military …read more
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Articles of Interest

Karzai Boots US Special Forces From Restive Wardak

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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says all US special forces must leave eastern Wardak province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans. Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi says today’s decision was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Newser – Home

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Afghan president orders US special forces to leave province over torture-related allegations

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Afghanistan‘s president on Sunday ordered all U.S. special forces to leave a strategically important eastern province within two weeks because of allegations that Afghans working with them are torturing and abusing other Afghans.

The decision seems to have caught the coalition and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, a separate command, by surprise. Americans have frequently drawn anger from the Afghan public over issues ranging from Qurans burned at a U.S. base to allegations of civilian killings.

“We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them,” the U.S. forces said in a statement.

Also Sunday, a series of attacks in eastern Afghanistan showed insurgents remain on the offensive even as U.S. and other international forces prepare to end their combat mission by the end of 2014.

Suicide bombers targeted Afghanistan‘s intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas in a bloody reminder of the insurgency’s reach nearly 12 years into the war.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said the decision to order the American special forces to leave Wardak province was taken during a meeting of the National Security Council because of the alleged actions of Afghans who are considered linked to the U.S. special forces.

He said all special forces operations were to cease immediately in the restive province next to Kabul, which is viewed as a gateway to the capital and has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts in recent years.

The Taliban have staged numerous attacks against U.S.-led coalition forces in the province. In August 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, in Wardak. The crash was the single deadliest loss for U.S. forces in the war.

Afghan forces have taken the lead in many such special operations, especially so-called night raids.

“Those Afghans in these armed groups who are working with the U.S. special forces, the defense minister asked for an explanation of who they are,” Faizi said. “Those individuals should be handed over to the Afghan side so that we can further investigate.”

A statement the security council issued in English said the armed individuals have allegedly been “harassing, annoying, torturing and even murdering innocent people.”

Ceasing all such operations could have a negative impact on the coalition’s campaign to go after Taliban leaders and commanders, who are usually the target of such operations.

Faizi said the issue had already been brought up with the coalition.

The U.S. statement said only that the announcement was “an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts. But until we have had a chance to speak with senior Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan officials about this issue, we are not in a position to comment further.”

The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three-hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as U.S. and other foreign troops gradually take a back seat and shift responsibility for security to the government.

The deadliest attack occurred just after …read more
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News, Politics, Government

White House to give senators Benghazi documents

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The White House has agreed to give the Senate Intelligence Committee documents related to the attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, a congressional aide said Friday.

Republicans had demanded the documents as a condition of voting on the nomination of John Brennan to be CIA director.

The documents include emails between top national security officials showing the debate within the administration over how to describe the attack and other documents the committee had been asking for, the aide said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The White House has said it has already turned over more than 10,000 pages of Benghazi-related documents, along with witness interviews, staff briefings and hours of testimony.

Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, said the administration was talking with members of Congress about their requests regarding both the Benghazi attacks and the use of drone strikes, but he declined to say whether those requests had been granted.

“That being said, the confirmation process should be about the nominees and their ability to do the jobs they’re nominated for,” Vietor said.

The attack on the Benghazi compound last Sept. 11 killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. The Obama administration sent conflicting signals about whether the assault was a terrorist attack or an incident touched off by protests over an anti-Muslim video.

Republicans accused the Obama administration of an election-year cover-up of an act of terrorism and repeatedly pressed for more information about the attack. An independent review that faulted the State Department and led to four employees being relieved of their duties failed to placate GOP lawmakers. They demanded testimony from former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who spent more than five hours before two congressional panels, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey about the military’s response to the attack.

Republicans also pressed the administration for emails, communiques and videos, and threatened to hold up the nominations of members of President Barack Obama‘s second-term national security team, including the choice of Chuck Hagel for the Pentagon and Brennan for CIA director.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Donna …read more
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Lebanese, Syrian officials indicted in bomb plot

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Lebanon‘s state-run news agency says three people, including a former Cabinet minister and a top Syrian intelligence general, have been indicted in a bombing plot in Lebanon.

The National News Agency says military investigative judge, Riad Abu Ghaida, demanded the death penalty for former information minister, Michel Samaha, Syrian Brig. Gen. Ali Mamlouk and a Syrian colonel who was identified only by his first name, Adnan.

Mamlouk was accused Wednesday of being involved with Samaha in plotting a wave of attacks in Lebanon at the behest of Syria.

The August arrest of Samaha, a close aide to Syrian President Bashar Assad, was an embarrassing blow to Syria, which has long acted with impunity in Lebanon.

Mamlouk heads Syria‘s powerful National Security Council.

…read more
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Articles of Interest

Iran Says Israel Will Regret Syria Airstrike

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By Breaking News

Iran flag SC Iran says Israel will regret Syria airstrike

DAMASCUS, Syria (OfficialWire) — A top Iranian official visiting Damascus said Monday that Israel will regret its “latest aggression” on Syria and urged the entire Muslim world to be ready to defend the Syrian people.

Israel has all but confirmed it was behind the airstrike near Damascus last week. U.S. officials said the Israelis struck a military research center and a convoy next to it carrying anti-aircraft weapons destined for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

“Just as it regretted its aggressions after the 33-day, 22-day and eight-day wars, today the Zionist entity will regret the aggression it launched against Syria,” Saeed Jalili, the head of Iran’s National Security Council, told a news conference in Damascus. He was referring to past wars between Israel and Hezbollah or the Palestinian Hamas rulers of Gaza.

Syria said has vowed to retaliate for the airstrike.

Iran is Syria’s closest regional ally and Jalili used his 3-day visit to pledge Tehran’s continued support for the President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Read More at OfficialWire . By Albert Aji.

Photo Credit: erjkprunczyk (Creative Commons)

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism

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Kerry blasts Iran over imprisonment of American Christian pastor

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By Perry Chiaramonte

On the day he was confirmed as Secretary of State, John Kerry went farther than his predecessor had in condemning Iran for imprisoning an American citizen, a Christian pastor who was sentenced this week to eight years in prison for evangelizing in the Islamic Republic.

Kerry, the longtime Democratic senator from Massachusetts, made the statement in response to a written query from fellow Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who asked if Kerry, as secretary of state, would join the National Security Council‘s call for Saeed Abedini‘s release.

“We remain deeply concerned about the fairness and transparency of Mr. Abedini’s trial,” Kerry told Rubio. “I, along with the U.S. government, condemn Iran‘s continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion and call on the Iranian authorities to respect Mr. Abedini’s human rights and release him.”

Abedini, a 34-year-old father of two, denied evangelizing in Iran and claims he had only returned to his native land to help establish an orphanage. Authorities pulled him off a bus last August and threw him into the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.

The exact crimes he is accused of only became public on Monday, when the prosecutor outlined charges that Abedini undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and that he was attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam. Rubio and other supporters of Abedini believe the charges stem from Abedini’s 2000 conversion to Christianity and his involvement several years ago with house churches in Iran.

Although Abedini‘s lawyer is appealing Monday’s sentence, experts following the case think Abedini’s only chance at freedom lies with a grant of clemency from the religious clerics that rule Iran. The State Department under outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was criticized by Abedini’s supporters for not doing more to win his freedom, even though the U.S. has not had diplomatic ties with Iran since the 1979 revolution there.

“It’s encouraging to see Sen. Kerry condemn Iran and call for the release of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini. His recognition and involvement in Pastor Saeed‘s case would send a very strong message to Iran and to the rest of the world – the imprisonment of a U.S. citizen because of his religious beliefs is simply unacceptable,” Jordan Sekulow, executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice, said in a written statement.

“With his confirmation today and his soon-to-be swearing-in, Sen. Kerry has a unique opportunity to put a global spotlight on this case and come to the aid of an American who is facing years of beatings and torture because of his faith,” Sekulow said. “It is our hope that as secretary of state, Sen. Kerry will engage this issue fully and put the full weight of his office behind efforts to free Pastor Saeed.”

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Meet the Next White House Chief of Staff

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By <a href="/author-detail/3336903">Matt Compton</a>

President Barack Obama announces Denis McDonough as his Chief of Staff, Jan. 25, 2013

President Barack Obama announces Denis McDonough as his Chief of Staff, replacing Jack Lew, the President’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 25, 2013.

(Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

President Obama today tapped Denis McDonough to serve as his Chief of Staff and lead the team at the White House.

McDonough, 43, was previously the Deputy National Security Advisor. He began his career as a staffer on Capitol Hill — where he served in both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. In the White House, he previously served as the head of strategic communications for the National Security Council and as the NSS chief of staff.

“Denis has played a key role in every major national security decision of my presidency,” the President said, “from ending the war in Iraq to winding down the war in Afghanistan; from our response to natural disasters around the world like Haiti and the tsunami in Japan to the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' to countless crises in between, day and night — and that includes many nights. I’ve actually begun to think that Denis likes pulling all-nighters. The truth is nobody out-works Denis McDonough.”

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House

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American Christian pastor on trial in Iran to be freed on bail, attorney says

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By Perry Chiaramonte

An American Christian pastor who faced a possible death sentence in Iran for alleged evangelizing was granted bail and allowed to leave the country, Iran‘s state news agency reported.

The development came on Monday, the first day of Saeed Abedini‘s trial at the Revolutionary Court on charges of attempting to undermine state security by organizing a network of home-based Christian churches.

Abedini, 34, who lives in Idaho with his wife and their two children, denied evangelizing in Iran and claims he had only returned to his native land to help establish an orphanage. Authorities pulled him off a bus last August and threw him into the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran.

The ISNA news agency report, cited by The Associated Press, said Abedini was to be released after posting $116,000 bail. It quotes lawyer Nasser Sarbazi as saying Abedini will be released within the next few days and will be allowed to leave Iran.

When or if Abedini would ever return to face the charges is unclear. The exact crimes he is accused of only became public on Monday, when the prosecutor outlined charges that Abedini undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and that he was attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam.

The court presented evidence that dated back to the year 2000, the same year that Abedini converted from Islam to Christianity. Abedini has acknowledged evangelizing in Iran more than a decade ago, but says he was arrested and then freed on the condition he never do it again.

“This trial apparently is focused on 13 years ago, when Pastor Saeed converted from Islam to Christianity,” Jordan Sekulow, executive director for the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the pastor’s family and has been monitoring the situation, said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

Although the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with Iran, last week, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said the administration was troubled over Abedini’s imprisonment.

“We remain troubled by the case of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who was arrested by Iranian officials more than three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs,” Vietor said. “We call upon Iranian authorities to release him immediately.”

In addition, last week nearly 50 members of the House of Representatives signed and delivered a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s office urging her to leave “no stone unturned” in her efforts to bring Abedini back to the states.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

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Wife of Christian held in Iran waits as trial, possible death sentence looms

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By Perry Chiaramonte

As her husband’s trial and possible death sentence looms, the wife of an American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran for evangelizing clings to hope and prays for a miracle.

Naghmeh Abedini has been told by attorneys for her husband, Saeed, to expect the worst at Monday’s trial, wherethe 32-year-old husband and father faces the capital charge of compromising national security. Supporters believe the charges are directly related to Abedini’s work nearly a decade ago starting a house church movement in Iran, and the judge he’ll face, Abbas Pir-Abassi, is infamous for sending defendants to the gallows.

“There is a lot going through my mind. I can never clear my head. I only sleep two hours a night,” Naghmeh Abedini told Foxnews.com by phone from her family’s home near Boise. “Unfortunately, he has been set up for failure and a harsh sentence because of his beliefs. His attorney says that the court has gathered a large amount of evidence against him.”

As the trial approaches, Nagmeh and her husband’s supporters are hoping international pressure will be felt inside the Iranian regime. Although the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Iran, on Friday, a spokesman for the Obama administration called on Iran to free Abedini.

“We remain troubled by the case of U.S. citizen Saeed Abedini, who was arrested by Iranian officials more than three months ago on charges relating to his religious beliefs. We call upon Iranian authorities to release him immediately,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

Naghmeh Abedini, 35, who was born in Tehran and moved to the U.S. with her family when she was just nine years old, has had intermittent contact with her husband, through letters smuggled out of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran and, occasionally, when relatives in Iran are able to speak to him by phone and conference her in. In those cases, the voice coming through the static buoys her spirits, yet leaves her feeling helpless.

“When I do get to speak with him, I don’t even know what to say,” she said. “What do you say when you only have four minutes?”

There is so much – maybe too much – that she wants to tell the man she met in 2001 when she travelled back to her homeland.

“I was attending a service and I noticed him from the crowd,” Naghmeh recalls. “I felt like it was love at first sight, but in the beginning I wasn’t too sure. He had asked for people to join him and help with his network of house churches. I volunteered, and over time we fell in love.”

Saeed and Naghmeh married in 2004 in Iran and, under then-President Mohammad Khatami‘s rule, they were allowed to wed in a Christian ceremony. But tolerance for Christianity – particularly the evangelism Saeed Abedini practiced – was being squeezed out by darker forces in the Islamic nation. Teams of young men sanctioned by Iran‘s mullahs were beating women on the streets for violating curfew or not dressing in traditional Muslim garb. Hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president in August of 2005, and the nation’s isolation from the west worsened. By November of 2005, the Christian couple who had helped establish a network of home-based churches, was forced to flee under charges similar to those Saeed now faces.

“We lived in a nearby country until early 2006, we had to wait to come here until he was able to get a marriage visa,” Nagmeh recalled.

Seven years ago, Saeed won citizenship in the U.S. and they moved to the American west to raise their son and daughter, now ages 4 and 6. Yet Saeed Abedini felt the calling of his extended family in Iran – and the calling of his ministry there.

“He loves the U.S., but he missed his family,” Naghmeh said. “In 2009, we decided to go back and face the charges and take a chance. We thought he would have been arrested once we arrived at the airport, but nothing happened.”

The arrest came when they returned to the airport for their flight home. Authorities later freed Abedini to go back to the U.S., but warned him not to do anymore evangelical work in Iran. But, according to Nagmeh, the couple was expressly told they were free to return to their native country for secular humanitarian efforts.

Last summer, Abedini journeyed to Iran to help open an orphanage with the state’s backing, according to Nagmeh. He was pulled off a bus and placed under house arrest, then moved to Evin prison in September. It is the same prison where another pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian Christian pastor, was held for three years before being freed amid an international media outcry.

The specific allegations against Abedini have not been made public, but supporters say it is almost certainly related to his conversion from Islam to Christianity back in 2000 and his subsequent efforts to spread the gospel. Even Abedini does not know the charges against him, according to a letter he recently was able to sneak out of the prison, which is known for holding intellectuals and political prisoners.

“This is the process in my life today: one day I am told I will be freed and allowed to see my kids on Christmas (which was a lie) and the next day I am told I will hang for my faith in Jesus,” Abedini wrote. “One day there are intense pains after beatings in interrogations, the next day they are nice to you and offer you candy.”

For Naghmeh, the hardest part is not being able to support the man she loves in person.

“The government has made it clear that if I set foot in Iran, I will immediately be arrested,” she said. “One of my heart’s desires is to be able to go see him, but I won’t be able to be there for him.”

Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, which has fought to bring attention to Abedini’s plight, said he hopes the administration will continue to press Iran on the matter.

“The statement released today is encouraging,” Sekulow said. “It is our hope that the Secretary of State and the State Department fully engage this issue and call for his immediate release. We urge them to utilize all of their diplomatic resources to secure the freedom of this U.S. citizen who is being persecuted and facing grave danger because of his religious beliefs.”

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News