An Iranian Christian and former pastor has been granted a one-year residency permit in Israel following an appeal from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
N12 News reported that in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Huckabee, who personally knows Iranian-American pastor Ramin Parsa and his wife, Yasmin, highlighted his “steadfast advocacy on behalf of Israel, the importance of his voice in confronting the Iranian threat, and the humanitarian considerations concerning his family.”
Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority approved the permit. With temporary status, Parsa can apply for permanency.
Parsa expressed his thankfulness in an interview with N12 News.
“I was born in Iran, where Israel is presented as an enemy,” Parsa said. “I got to know Israel through the people who live there and through my partner, with whom I hope to build a home and a future here. I thank the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, for his support, my lawyers and the good people in Israel who supported my fight. I hope my story will remind people to see the person behind the passport.”
Parsa lived in Iran and grew up in a Muslim family. He describes his life as “hell” living under the Iranian regime. Under fabricated charges, Parsa was arrested and tortured. He watched public executions.
“They executed tens of thousands of people. … Millions fled. Almost 8 million people have fled Iran since the beginning of the revolution,” he told All Israel News.
Parsa started questioning his Muslim faith after his arrest and torture, and he turned to further studying the Quran and Hadith, but that only made him doubt his faith more.
“I saw so many evil things … talking about killing the Jews, killing the infidels, beheading them,” he said. “I could not accept or believe that this ideology came from the God who made the stars, the moon, and the sun.”
When he was 19 years old, he heard the Gospel through satellite TV, and he invited God into his life and found himself able to forgive his tormentors.
“The moment I said that—heat went through my hand and through all of my body,” he recalled. “I started shaking and crying. I felt a love I had never felt before … as if a 500-pound weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
Parsa fled to Turkey when he received death threats. Two years later, in 2008, he emigrated to the United States, where he attended Bible college and became a pastor.
But when Parsa met Yasmin, an Israeli Christian, his life changed. They were married in 2020 and then in 2023 moved to Israel. Parsa applied for his citizenship in 2024, but his application was referred to a humanitarian committee. Parsa was rejected because he was born in Iran, an enemy country.
His appeal was backed by a judge who ruled that the decision was disproportionate. That judge ordered a reconsideration from the Ministry of Interior. In his ruling, the judge took into account Parsa’s wife and child’s wellbeing.
But the Ministry of Interior issued a final denial on July 13, and the family had until Aug. 27 to file a last court appeal. The family braced for his potential deportation until Huckabee’s appeal succeeded.
Following the permit’s approval, Parsa expressed that he wants to “dedicate [his] time and energy to helping and supporting Israel and to be a voice of truth in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to Jews and Israel.”