Boise pastor jailed in Iran

A pastor from Boise is being held prisoner in Iran, according to a FoxNews.com report, without formally charging him.

Rev. Saeed Abedini is a 32-year-old Christian convert who has dual citizenship in the United States and Iran, according to the report. He’s pastor of the Calvary Chapel Boise, according to KBOI.

FoxNews.com reports the pastor was in his native country during one of his frequent trips to see his parents and other family members. He worked for years in Iran to develop an underground community for Christian converts.

“When he became a Christian, he became a criminal in his own country. His passion was to reach the people of Iran,” Naghmeh, his wife, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News.

Abedini’s imprisonment began in July when an Iranian government officials pulled him off a bus and said he had to face a penalty for his previous work as a Christian leader in the Muslim country, according to the report.

He was placed on house arrest, but on September 26, FoxNews.com reports five men broke down the door to his parent’s home in Tehran an arrested him.

Abedini is now in Iran’s notoriously brutal Evin Prison, where he is awaiting trial on unknown charges, the report says.

To read FoxNews.com’s full report, click here.