In a surprising move, the Iranian Authorities released a young pastor that had become an unexpected sensation in Christian communities world-wide.

This morning's release unleashed an outpouring of goodwill on Facebook about the release of young Iranian Pastor Nadarkhani.

People around the world have been following this story and waiting for his release. Nadarkhani became a symbol of religious persecution for many and more were beginning to notice.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was held in prison 1062 days for being vocal about his faith. He was first arrested in 2009 and was later sentenced to death in 2010. His case went all the way to the Iranian Supreme Court in 2011 and the high court upheld the lower court decision using a loophole to defer to Sharia Law.

As recent as this July, CNN quoted the State Department as saying, "Pastor Nadarkhani still faces the threat of execution for simply following his faith, and we repeat our call for Iranian authorities to release him immediately," in a statement from State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

Today's release was a complete surprise to his family, Iranian society and the world at large. Nadarkhani rejoined his wife and two young sons.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/world/meast/iran-detained-pastor/index.html
ACLJ
http://aclj.org/iran/youcef-freed
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
http://dynamic.csw.org.uk/article.asp?t=news&id=1327&search