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Iran is seeking to extradite a decorated Iranian wrestler for peacefully protesting the regime in early January, prompting the US State Department on Wednesday to demand that Tehran commute the death sentence of 19-year-old Saleh Mohammadi.
Wrestling is a national pastime in Iran and a favorite sport of President Donald Trump, who wanted to save the life of Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari in 2020. The clerical regime in Iran executed Afkari in 2018 for his role in exposing the economic and political corruption of the theocracy.
According to the official X account of the State Department in Farsi, the post on Wednesday read: “The United States 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 killing young people and destroying the future of Iran. their basic rights #SalehMohammadi #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRights #IranProtest”
The State Department’s action comes as activists are calling on the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling to intervene with federal authorities on his behalf, along with other persecuted abusers in the country.
Iranian-American, Sardar Pashaei, who won the Greco-Roman wrestling world title for Iran and coached the country’s elite Greco-Roman team, told Fox News Digital, “In less than ten days, the Iranian regime shot and killed more than 30 athletes across the country. The youngest was only 15 years old. The gunfire.”
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He added that his organization, Hiwa, “documented only confirmed cases. Many other athletes are still missing, imprisoned, or at risk of torture and death, while families across Iran continue to search for their loved ones without answers or justice.” He praised the action of the Department of State to go public and ask for the release of Saleh Mohammadi.
Wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi is facing execution in Iran for taking part in a protest as international pressure mounts to save the athlete. (The Foreign Desk)
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Pashaei continued, “A regime that imprisons, tortures and kills its athletes has no place in the international sports community. Sports should never be used to hide blood. Hiwa is preparing an official letter demanding that the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling stop and ban Iran from all international competitions.”
The security forces of the Islamic Republic arrested Olympic athlete Alireza Nejati, who has won medals in the world championships, after he sent a message on social media to his more than 78,000 Instagram followers. The government arrested Nejati and allegedly tortured him.
“I wish everyone a great weekend full of success and good vibes,” the 27-year-old Greco-Roman wrestling champion wrote on Jan. 7. He ends his message with, “This is the end.”
Fox News Digital sent media inquiries by email and made phone calls to the UWW and IOC about the statements.
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Iranian Canadians in Mel Lastman Square protest against the killing of wrestler Navid Afkari by the Iranian regime, Toronto, Ontario, 15 Sept. 2020. The death penalty caused an uproar around the world, but the regime continued. (Photo by Sayed Najafizada/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
Foreign Desk Editor-in-Chief Lisa Daftari, a leading expert on Iran, told Fox News Digital, “Saleh Mohammadi is a 19-year-old athlete whose only ‘crime’ was to meet his people, yet now he is facing a death sentence designed to make an example of him and warn the rest of the country that he will not be punished. Iranian youth who dare to dream of freedom – and the world’s response will show the protesters whether they are alone or not.”
He added, “By threatening to kill its youth – its athletes, artists, musicians and brilliant minds – the regime is making it clear that it does not see the Iranian people as their future, but as a threat to be silenced.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the US State Department for comment.
