20-04-2024 07:08 AM Jerusalem Timing

US Pastor Deported from Tehran Praises Sheikh Rouhani

US Pastor Deported from Tehran Praises Sheikh Rouhani

The Iranian authorities have deported a U.S. priest who organized a protest outside a Tehran prison demanding the release of Iranian Christians and denouncing what he called the "belligerent" Islamic regime.

US pastor Eddie Romero in TahranThe Iranian authorities have deported a U.S. priest who organized a protest outside  a Tehran prison demanding the release of Iranian Christians and denouncing what he called the "belligerent" Islamic regime.

The U.S. media reported Thursday that Pastor Eddie Romero from California has been detained for interrogation on Monday in Tehran after demanding the release of 5 Iranian inmates Christians whom he considers prisoners of conscience from the prison, Evin in the Iranian capital.

On Wednesday, Romero managed to return to the United States. He stated he was treated well after being arrested and held for over 24 hours in the Iranian capital before being put on a plane out of the country.

"We had long good discussions. The primary interrogator spoke very good English. We really had a serious, serious discussion," he told reporters at Los Angeles airport.

"To me it was just a wonderful time together," he said.

The US pastor staged his protest outside Tehran's Evin prison, calling for the release of five inmates who he said were prisoners of faith and conscience, including an Iranian Christian pastor and a prominent human rights lawyer.

Romero managed to livestream about five minutes of his protest, before being arrested and taken into the prison for questioning, according to organizers, who said he was detained for 32 hours.

He praised Iran's moderate President Sheikh Hasan Rouhani, who has made huge efforts to engage with the West since succeeding Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It should be noted in this context that Romero had been detained in 2008 during the Olympic Games in Beijing after a protest demanding the release of activists detained in China.