released from prison "on bail" Thursday, October 5, fellow Christians told BosNewsLife.
"It is with great joy that we can announce the release," of Fereshteh Dibaj, 28, and her husband Amir Montazemi, 35, said ‘prayforiran.org’ a website and prayer movement set up by 120 Iranian church leaders and other evangelical workers.
"They were released on bail this morning local time, although the case against them is apparently still open," a spokesperson for prayforiran.org said. The group quoted Fereshteh’s brother Issa Dibaj as saying he spoke to the couple in the town of Mashad, and stressed “they were treated well by the authorities in prison."
The couple was to be re-united with their 6-year-old daughter Christine later Thursday, October 5.
"Amir and Fereshteh have expressed their deepest gratitude to all those who were praying and acting on their behalf during this time. God has heard our prayers and has been good to us. Indeed, their sudden release is yet another indication of the power of prayer," said prayforiran.org.
PRAYERS URGED
It was not immediately clear if or how much money was paid for their release and when a trial would begin. Prayforiran.org said it had urged its supporters to "Pray the case against them will be completely dropped,” and they the couple will be able to "come to terms with their eight-day ordeal."
The group said more Christians in Iran still face “intimidation” but added it hopes that Iranian prosecutors will be "impacted by the testimony of Amir and Fereshteh and experience the forgiveness [Jesus] Christ offers them."
The couple was detained by Iran’s feared secret police, September 26, apparently because of their church activities in Mashad, where they lead an independent house church. It is the only known remnant of two active Protestant Christian congregations who were closed by the government in the 1980s.
In December 1990, the government executed a Mashhad pastor, the Rev. Hussein Soodmand, Christians said. He was no exception. Fereshteh’s father, Rev. Mehdi Dibaj, an Assemblies of God minister, was killed for his faith 12 years ago. Dibaj spent over nine years in prison, where he was given the death penalty for committing apostasy.
FATHER KILLED
A few months after international protests prompted his release, he was abducted and assassinated on the way to his teenage daughter Fereshteh’s birthday party, Church sources say.
There has been concern that Christians will face more persecution under Iran’s recently elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is known for his Islamic hard-line views and is believed to be less open towards religious and other groups, including Jews and Christians.
Israel’s Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres reportedly called Ahmadinejad a "human bomb" whose strength is a result of international weakness.
The long-time Labor party chairman who joined Kadima made the remark at a press conference in Berlin. "Iran constitutes a danger due to two bombs, one nuclear and the other human – Ahmadinejad," he was quoted as saying by Israeli media. (With BosNewsLife News Center and reports from Iran and Germany).
