Imprisoned Iranian-American pastor gets push from State Dept.

[MADem]

1. This won't be an easy ride for Kerry.

If this is the case I am thinking of, they are angry at the pastor because he was proselytizing, because he stepped away from Isla'am (his parents' faith) and, of course, because of his US citizenship. These are serious 'crimes' in a nation where the rule of law is based entirely on the Qu'ran.

He's being held in Evin (which is a massive hellhole where torture is the norm) and all reports suggest he's being beaten. Quite robustly, too, apparently.

The average price for a prisoner (Iran is cash-short and they do engage in kidnapping/ransom schemes, protestations to the contrary aside--they call it "bail" but we know what it is) is anywhere from a half million on up. This guy is rather high profile so they may want a million or two--maybe even more--for him. State won't pay but I understand this guy has backing from that lawyer who is active in religious cases at the Supremes. He has the wherewithal to put out the call and rake in some funding if they ever get to the point where they can negotiate some "bail," rather like they did for those hikers who supposedly strayed across the border (but who said they were abducted in Iraqi Kurdistan).

If he gets out, he needs to be told very clearly that he can't ever go back, ever, for any reason. I wonder if he had dual citizenship and traveled to the country on his Persian passport. If so, that further complicates matters, if the Iranians care to get shirtier than usual.