Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is a Christian minister that the hard line Iranian government has imprisoned and sentenced to death for apostasy from Islam. 

They now are having second thoughts due to international pressure and the fear of making him a martyr. As I pointed out in one of my prior posts on this subject, all the Iranians need to do is study the history of the Romans to see what martyring Christians does to people.  Sooner or later, you get a Constantine, and an entirely Christian nation.  Not only that, the Iranian government fears the growth of the house church movement right at home, and now, having sentenced the good pastor to death, they have painted themselves into a corner.  

To get out, they have now offered Pastor Nadarkhani a deal.  Admit that Mohammed was a messenger from God, and they promise to release him.   However, they misunderstand both the pastor and Christianity, as he will naturally not agree to that.

We shall see how this works out, but the natural bloodthirstiness of Islam doesn't bode well.

                                                 Pastor Nadarkhani in an Iranian prison cell.