President Donald Trump’s threat against Iran on Tuesday has prompted reactions from three Iranian athletes.Trump wrote on Truth Social, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” in reference to Iran amid his threats to target the nation’s power plants and bridges.Former Iranian youth wrestling champion Sardar Pashaei, who now lives in the U.S., responded to Trump’s threat in a statement to Fox News Digital.”The Iranian regime still has a chance—and all the means necessary—to stop sacrificing its own people and bring an end to this 47-year catastrophe. It has had many opportunities in the past. Instead, it chose repression at home and conflict abroad. Today, the regime is effectively holding the Iranian people hostage, placing civilians in danger while claiming to act in their interest,” Pashaei said.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM”For decades, it has destroyed Iran’s natural resources, built tunnels deep into mountains for missiles, and spent the country’s wealth on drones and war—not on the wellbeing of its people. Above all, we must be clear: the Iranian people must never be the target of pressure or punishment. They have already suffered for decades under this regime.”Responsibility for this crisis lies with the clerical establishment and the IRGC. For decades, chants of ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ have been driven by the regime—not by the Iranian people, who have instead sought dignity, opportunity, and a normal life, yet have never been given a real choice through free and fair elections. The regime has already lost—both at home and on the global stage. The only remaining question is how much more suffering it will impose before it finally steps aside.”TRUMP REVEALS IRAN MADE ‘SIGNIFICANT PROPOSAL’ AFTER ULTIMATUM, BUT ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’Iranian competition climber Elnaz Rakabi, who won bronze at the 2021 IFSC Climbing World Championship, shared a different perspective in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.”As an Iranian athlete, I cannot stay silent when language is used that speaks of the destruction of a nation as if millions of innocent lives are disposable. Any statement that suggests the collapse or destruction of Iran without recognizing the human cost is deeply dangerous. Iran is not just a regime. Iran is a people, a history, a civilization, and millions of human beings who have already endured decades of repression, fear, and suffering,” Rakabi said.”At the same time, the world must not ignore the truth that the Islamic Republic has spent decades oppressing its own people, crushing peaceful protests, and investing the country’s wealth in ideology, militarization, and nuclear ambition instead of the wellbeing of its citizens.”The people of Iran have repeatedly gone into the streets to demand freedom, dignity, justice, and the right to live a normal life, only to be met with bullets, prisons, executions, and fear. The Iranian people are not asking for v
Iranian athletes respond to Trump’s warning that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’
