Ex-Wife Tells of Abuse & Betrayal Behind #SaveSaeed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ-XdWVBjtA Guest Bios Show Transcript From the fall of 2012 through 2015, imprisoned Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini and his wife, Naghmeh, were the public face of persecuted Christians. As part of a global #SaveSaeed campaign, millions of dollars were raised, and Saeed was freed from prison in January 2016. Yet when Naghmeh revealed that she’d been abused by her husband, she went from being the darling of the Christian community to an outcast. She says prominent figures Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow, who had long supported her, began pressuring Naghmeh to make the accusations go away. In this eye-opening episode of The Roys Report, Naghmeh tells how Pastor Saeed, trained by Hezbollah, nearly beat her to death. She also reveals how Saeed consistently abused her emotionally and spiritually—even from an Iranian prison.  Naghmeh also tells how Christian leaders backed her when her story was building their platforms. But when her truth-telling destroyed Saeed’s heroic image and #SaveSaeed’s fund-raising potential, Naghmeh says those leaders’ disposition towards her changed dramatically.  This is part one of a two-part podcast series in which you’ll hear exclusive audio from a meeting Naghmeh had with Franklin Graham, as well as revealing emails between her and Graham. This is a sobering story. Yet Naghmeh Panahi shares details of her difficult experience because she’s appalled at how the Christian community continues to treat abuse victims. She hopes that when others learn about what happened to her, they’ll lobby for change.   This Weeks Guests Naghmeh Abedini Panahi Naghmeh Abedini Panahi made national news in 2012 when she publicly advocated for the release of her then husband, Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith. Through Saeed’s imprisonment Naghmeh was not only able to bring worldwide attention to the plight of the persecuted Christians, but she was also able to proclaim the Gospel to millions of people worldwide by speaking to governments, human rights groups, and major news outlets. When it came to light in 2015 that Naghmeh had been abused throughout her marriage by her “hero” husband, the Christian community turned on her. Though Naghmeh was judged, abandoned, and rejected by the Christian community, she trusted in Jesus to be her defense and to fight her battles. Naghmeh’s story is a story of God’s amazing rescue and restoration. Show Transcript SPEAKERS JULIE ROYS, NAGHMEH PANAHI, FRANKLIN GRAHAM JULIE ROYS From the fall of 2012 through most of 2015, Pastor Saeed Abedini and his wife, Naghmeh, were the public face of persecuted Christians. Yet in November 2015, that all changed. In a leaked email, Naghmeh told supporters that she’d been abused by her husband. And suddenly, she went from being the darling of the Christian community to an outcast. And she says those, like Franklin Graham and Jay Sekulow, who had long supported her, began pressuring her to make the accusations go away. Welcome to The Roys Report—a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And joining me today with her truly stunning story of being abused by her husband—and then shunned by the Christian community when she spoke of that abuse—is Naghmeh Panahi. Naghmeh is the former wife of Pastor Saeed Abedini. And as you probably remember, Pastor Saeed made international news in 2012 when he was sentenced to 8 years in prison in Iran for evangelizing. And over the next three years, Naghmeh, became a well-known advocate for Saeed. But as she’ll explain, behind that advocacy was a secret history of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Yet, when Naghmeh opened up about that abuse, she didn’t receive empathy and support from the Christian community. Instead, she says she received scorn. And for the first time, she’s released emails from Christian leaders like Franklin Graham, showing how she was treated. She’s al