Christian Convert Near Death in Iranian Prison
A Christian woman imprisoned in a harsh Iranian prison in Tehran is near death and in desperate need of prayers. Nasim Naghash Zargaran, 36, was arrested in January of 2013 for her involvement in an Iranian church-planting ministry and her connection to pastor Saeed Abedini.
Zargaran was one of the first people who converted to Christianity after meeting Abedini and was one of Abedini’s main church leaders.
On Friday, Zargaran began a hunger strike to protest the denial of much-needed medical treatment. Abedini told the Baptist Press Zargaran suffers from diabetes, severe pain and an atrial septal defect heart condition. She began her strike after a prosecutor repeatedly denied permission to transport her to a nearby hospital for treatment.
“She’s just one step from death,” Abedini told Baptist Press, “and her punishment is just because of assisting me.”
Abedini says he learned from Zargaran’s sister, Naeemeh, that Iranian prison officials took her to the hospital during her hunger strike because she appeared to be comatose, but quickly took her back to prison against the doctor’s wishes.
“(Naaemeh) told me when she went to hospital she had a chance to take some photos. She was like in a coma so she thought that her sister was dead first when she saw her,” Abedini told BP. “The doctors said she should stay in hospital but the police (took) her back to prison … two days ago.”
Zargaran is serving a four-year prison sentence for “threatening national security” by church planting, the same charge Abedini was sentenced to eight years for. Iranian officials continue to crack down on church planting in the country, and raided 10 additional house churches near Tehran as recently at May 13. {eoa}
Reprinted with permission from cbn.com. © 2016 Christian Broadcasting Network. All rights reserved.
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