Evangelical pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American who was freed in a 2016 prisoner exchange between the United States and Iran, has been accused of abducting his 5-year-old daughter from her mother in Turkey and fleeing the country.
According to WDBJ, the child’s mother, Niloofar Illbaki, has asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia to order the child’s return. She alleges in a lawsuit that he brought the girl to the U.S. and later to Virginia, where he resides without her consent.
Illbaki’s attorney, Roanoke lawyer Devon Slovensky, told the outlet that Illbaki has been unable to communicate freely with her daughter.
“The unfortunate circumstance is our client hasn’t been able to hug her daughter or talk to her daughter about what she’s experiencing without the influence of the father around right now,” Slovensky said. “So it’s really hard for our client to know exactly what her daughter is experiencing.
According to Illbaki, an Iranian refugee living in Turkey, Abedini was under a court order to remain at his residence in Turkey when he left with their child last year. According to The Roys Report, the complaint said Abdeini picked the child up to visit her paternal grandmother in December 2024. She was reportedy due to return home in Turkey after the New Year, but was allegedly taken to the U.S. instead.
"The child's habitual residence at the time of removal was Turkey, where she was born and lived with the mother from birth," the complaint said.
The complaint also alleges that Abedini is a fugitive from the Turkish government and is currently under investigation for abuse.
A judge has issued a temporary restraining order that bars Abedini from leaving the Western District of Virginia until July 1. The judge also reportedly ordered him to surrender his passport and barred him from concealing his daughter’s whereabouts from the court. Both parties are reportedly scheduled to appear in federal court in July for an evidentiary hearing.
Abedini, who was born Muslim and then later converted to Christianity, was jailed in Iran from 2012 to 2016. At the time of his arrest, he was working with Christian churches in Iran. He became the face of Christian persecution, which led to the social media campaign "Save Saeed".
In 2016, he was freed as part of a prisoner exchange in Iran.