christianity. bill: what s the home church thing. protestant church in iran. popular in more recent years. it s in some ways an underground movement because many christian converts and protestants are not allowed to build churches in iran. and, as a result, they hold their ceremonies. bill: that s all illegal. if you are an iranian. you have got to be a muslim, right? not true. there are actually jews in iran. there are christians in iran. there are christian converts in iran. what the iranian government has a specific problem with is these home church movements because they re very popular. there are a a lot of young people. bill: converting anybody. exactly. their big issue is evangelical christians. bill: if you are not a muslim you have got to shut up? well, i wouldn t necessarily put it that way. bill: you are a little soft on iran? little soft on them, man. there is no freedom of religion over there. come on. no, there isn t. bill: let s call it. an americ
bill: factor follow up segment tonight terrible situation in iran is a heed be a dibiasio any american father of two, christian pastor, convicted of insurrection and sentenced to 8 years in a violent iranian president. the case is completely bogus, once again the u.s. state department and the president seem pourless. we condemn iran s continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion and we call on the iranian authorities to release mr. abedino. as you know, the state department is in close contact with the abedino family is actively engaged on this case. bill: that s nice. i don t think iran is quaking in proverbial boots. with us now a member of the group human rights watch and iranian expert. they don t care what carney says, do they? well, i that i international pressure does actually wind up working in several instances and cases. we actually have a case of a pastor, christian pastor named yousef who was
sentenced to i had hypotheses. because of international pressure and organized watch including christian organizations in the united states and in europe and elsewhere, his conviction actually was changed. he spent a little bit of time in prison and he has since been released. bill: all right. so you think you can bring some pressure to bear. yes. bill: this abedino he is an american. persian by dissent. lives in the u.s.a. goes back to persia, iran, and they grab him. for what? they grabbed him essentially in the summer of last year as he was trying to enter into iran from turkey. and the reason why they grabbed him because is he involved in the home church movement in iran. he decided to change to christianity. he changed his religion to
christianity. bill: what s the home church thing. protestant church in iran. popular in more recent years. it s in some ways an underground movement because many christian converts and protestants are not allowed to build churches in iran. and, as a result, they hold their ceremonies. bill: that s all illegal. if you are an iranian. you have got to be a muslim, right? not true. there are actually jews in iran. there are christians in iran. there are christian converts in iran. what the iranian government has a specific problem with is these home church movements because they re very popular. there are a a lot of young people. bill: converting anybody. exactly. their big issue is evangelical christians. bill: if you are not a muslim you have got to shut up? well, i wouldn t necessarily put it that way. bill: you are a little soft on iran? little soft on them, man. there is no freedom of religion over there. come on. no, there isn t. bill: let s call it. an americ
christianity. bill: what s the home church thing. protestant church in iran. popular in more recent years. it s in some ways an underground movement because many christian converts and protestants are not allowed to build churches in iran. and, as a result, they hold their ceremonies. bill: that s all illegal. if you are an iranian. you have got to be a muslim, right? not true. there are actually jews in iran. there are christians in iran. there are christian converts in iran. what the iranian government has a specific problem with is these home church movements because they re very popular. there are a a lot of young people. bill: converting anybody. exactly. their big issue is evangelical christians. bill: if you are not a muslim you have got to shut up? well, i wouldn t necessarily put it that way. bill: you are a little soft on iran? little soft on them, man. there is no freedom of religion over there. come on. no, there isn t. bill: let s call it. an americ