During a trip Wednesday to Boise, President Obama will meet with the wife of an American pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran for nearly 800 days, according to the White House.
Obama will meet with Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of Saeed Abedini, was detained for his efforts to set up missionary Christian churches within the country.
{mosads}”I was overjoyed when I heard that President Obama wanted to meet with the kids and I during his short visit here in Boise,” Naghmeh Abedini said in a statement released by the American Center for Law and Justice.
“I have tried over the last two years to meet with the president or even get a phone call from him without success. It is truly an answer to prayer that he is coming to Boise and it is a miracle that he is meeting with us. I see God’s hand in arranging this crucial meeting.”
Abedini’s wife has also asked the White House to use ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program as leverage to secure her husband’s release.
Last week, the White House called on Tehran to release American prisoners — including a journalist from The Washington Post — but said efforts to secure their release would not be linked to the nuclear talks.
“We have been very clear that these two priorities have been raised on two separate tracks,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest. “But they are priorities nonetheless.”
The meeting also comes hours after House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced plans to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress about Iran policy. Boehner invited Netanyahu, who has been critical of the administration’s efforts, without consulting the White House, in what aides described as a breach of standard protocol.
“The typical protocol would suggest that the leader of a country would contact the leader of another country when he’s traveling there,” Earnest said. “That certainly is how President Obama’s trips are planned when he travels overseas. This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol.”
Earnest added that the move was “interesting” but denied the president was annoyed.
“We’re going to reserve judgment on that until we’ve had an opportunity to speak to the Israelis about what their plans are for the trip and what he plans to say,” Earnest said.