The Islamic Republic of Iran’s judiciary on Thursday ignored a U.S. State Department warning along with pleas from elite Iranian-American wrestlers to not execute 19-year-old champion wrestler Saleh Mohammadi for protesting against the Khamenei regime.Reports say Mohammadi was killed in a public hanging seen as a barbaric move by the Iranian regime to snuff out the ongoing movement seeking to topple it, according to Iranian American human rights activists and dissidents.Nima Far, a human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete who is an expert on elite Iranian wrestling, told Fox News Digital, “His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society, as seen with Navid Afkari and others executed despite international outcry.”STATE DEPARTMENT DEMANDS IRAN HALT EXECUTION OF 19-YEAR-OLD WRESTLING STARHe said, “The IOC [International Olympic Committee] and UWW [United World Wrestling] should have intervened forcefully with public ultimatums, threatening immediate suspension of Iran’s NOC [National Olympic Committee] and federations if the killing proceeded rather than relying on ineffective quiet diplomacy, given their own commitments to protect athletes from politically motivated harm.” Both organizations did put out statements after being asked for response from Fox News Digital upon Mohammadi’s death sentence.Far called on the wrestling authorities to take action, stating, “Iran must be banned from international competitions until it halts executions of protesters and athletes, releases those jailed in sham trials, and ends retaliation against competitors who speak out or defect.”Fox News Digital sent new press queries to the IOC and UWW. Reactions to his death came flooding in from Iranian commentators.Alizreza Nader, an expert on Iran and the human rights situation in the country, told Fox News Digital, “I feel very bad for him and his family. There should be a boycott of the regime when it comes to international sport. I do worry about individual athletes who will be impacted by this, as athletes in Iran are enduring very harsh conditions, including some reported as being virtual hostages by the regime. But there must be a heavy price for the regime for executing young people like this. There must be a deterrent.”IRANIAN SECURITY FORCES GUN DOWN AMATEUR BOXER AS FATHER SEARCHES MORGUES FOR MISSING SON: SOURCEIranian American activist Masih Alinejad wrote on X: “Today, in Iran, in the middle of a war, the regime executed a 19-year-old national wrestling champion for the crime of joining January protests. After signaling to the world, including President @realDonaldTrump, that they would halt executions of protesters, the regime has done the exact opposite.”She added, “Three young protesters, Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi, and Saeed Davoudi, were hanged in Qom after a sham trial. Reports indicate torture. Forced confessions. No access to chosen
Mojtaba Khamenei regime executes champion wrestler as Iran intensifies brutal crackdown during war
