Kerry Calls On Iranians To Release Christian Pastor

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement on Wednesday calling for Iran to help in the return of three U.S. citizens. One of those is Iranian-American Christian pastor Saeed Abedini who was sentenced in January to 8 years in prison by an Iranian court on charges of threatening Iran's national security through his leadership in Christian house churches. (See prior posting.) Kerry's statement comes only days after the Aug. 25 rejection by the Tehran Court of Appeals of Abedini's appeal of his sentence.  The American Center for Law and Justice issued a statement yesterday welcoming the State Department's re-engagement on Abedini's case.