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Iran is seeking to execute a decorated Iranian wrestler simply for demonstrating peacefully against the regime in early January, prompting the US State Department on Wednesday to demand that Tehran overturn the death sentence for 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi.
Wrestling is a national pastime in Iran and a sport favored by President Donald Trump, who tried to save the life of Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari in 2020. Iran’s clerical regime executed Afkari for his role in a 2018 demonstration against the theocratic state’s economic and political corruption.
According to the official X account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Farsi, a post on Wednesday read: “The US is deeply concerned by reports that 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi is facing imminent execution. The regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran is massacring young people and destroying the future of Iran. We call on them to sentence the Saleh Mohama regime to stop the sentence of the Iranian Modi regime. to death for exercising their fundamental rights #SalehMohammadi #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRights #IranProtest “.
The State Department’s action comes as activists call on the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling to intervene with regime authorities on his behalf, as well as other persecuted wrestlers in the country.
Iranian-American Sardar Pashaei, who won a Greco-Roman world wrestling title for Iran and coached the country’s elite Greco-Roman team, told Pakinomist Digital: “In less than ten days, the Iranian regime shot more than 30 athletes across the country. The youngest was only 15 years old as a national coach, including and international referees were all shot dead.”
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He added that his organization, Hiwa, “has only documented confirmed cases. Many more athletes remain missing, imprisoned or at risk of torture and execution, while families across Iran continue to search for their loved ones without answers or justice.” He praised the State Department’s actions in publicly calling for Saleh Mohammadi’s release.
Wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi faces imminent execution in Iran for taking part in protests as international pressure mounts to save the athlete. (The Foreign Desk)
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Pashaei continued: “A regime that imprisons, tortures and murders its own athletes has no place in the international sports community. Sports must never be used to launder blood. Hiwa is preparing an official letter demanding that the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling suspend and ban Iran from all international competitions.”
Security forces of the Islamic Republic seized Olympic wrestler Alireza Nejati, who has won medals in world championships, after he posted a message on social media to his more than 78,000 Instagram followers. The regime imprisoned Nejati and reportedly tortured him.
“I wish everyone a beautiful weekend full of success and good vibes,” the 27-year-old Greco-Roman wrestling champion wrote on January 7. He ended his message with, “This is the end.”
Pakinomist Digital emailed press inquiries and made phone calls to the UWW and IOC regarding statements.
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Iranians in Canada at Mel Lastman Square demonstrate against the Iranian regime’s execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Toronto, Ontario, September 15, 2020. The death sentence sparked international outrage, yet the regime persisted. (Photo by Sayed Najafizada/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Daftari, who is a leading expert on Iran, told Pakinomist Digital: “Saleh Mohammadi is a 19-year-old athlete whose only ‘crime’ was standing with his people, but he now faces an imminent death sentence designed to make an example of him and to horrify an entire nation, it would be a terrible execution. shot at any young Iranian who dares to dream of freedom – and the world’s reaction will show protesters whether they really are alone or not.”
She added: “By threatening to kill its youth – its athletes, artists, musicians and brightest minds – the regime is making it clear that it does not see the Iranian people as its future, but as a threat to be silenced.”
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Pakinomist Digital reached out to the US State Department for comment.
