BOISE -- A Boise pastor who spent years in an Iranian prison before being released in 2016 was arrested by Boise Police Sunday night.
Saeed Abedini, 37, was booked into the Ada County Jail on one misdemeanor count of violating a no-contact order.
Abedini was the focus of an intense local effort to win his freedom after he was arrested in Iran in 2012 and accused of threatening the country's national security. Abedini and his family contested he was targeted because of his Christian faith.
He was released along with three other Americans as part of a prisoner swap after three-and-a-half years in custody.
Sunday's arrest is not Abedini's first brush with the law since his return to the U.S.: His wife Naghmeh Abedini, who had led the campaign for his release, accused him of being abusive, and the pair filed for divorce in 2016.
Abedini pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating another protective order, and was sentenced to probation.
He was arraigned Monday morning, and is due back in court April 24.
