Iran executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler in a public hanging Thursday along with two other people who were arrested during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January.
Saleh Mohammadi, a rising star from Qom, was allegedly tortured to confess to the capital crime of waging war against God, with the teen executed without a fair trial, according to human rights groups.
“His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society,” Nima Far, a human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete, told Fox News.
Mohammadi, along with fellow protesters Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were accused of killing two police officers “with knives and swords” during the January protests, according to Iranian state media.
Despite appeals from the US, the protesters were found guilty and executed by Tehran.
Following mass arrests during the January protests, President Trump said he was reassured by Tehran that the executions would not take place, claiming to have saved the lives of some 800 demonstrators.
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping — it’s stopped — it’s stopping,” Trump said at the time. “There’s no plan for executions, or an execution, or executions — so I’ve been told that on good authority.”
Tehran, however, denied the president’s claims and rushed through the defendants’ trials after the US and Israel waged war on Iran.
Amnesty International slammed the executions, alleging that the men were denied “adequate defence and forced to make ‘confessions.’”
The humanitarian group said the trio were pushed through “fast-tracked proceedings that bore no resemblance to a meaningful trial.”
Far said Thursday’s execution was a haunting repetition of the 2020 execution of champion wrestler Navid Afkari, who was convicted of killing an Iranian security guard during a 2018 protest.
Far called on the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling organizations to take action against Iran over its brutality against athletes.
“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,” Far said.
The executions come as the solemn-looking Iran’s women’s soccer team returned to their home country Wednesday.
The women were branded “wartime traitors” after they failed to sing the national anthem at the Asia Cup earlier this month, with five members ending their bid for asylum in Australia after their family members were allegedly threatened.
Iranian American activist Masih Alinejad said the executions signaled a clear signal from Tehran that its brutal crackdown would continue as she also urged the Global Athlete advocacy group to stand with the protestors.
“I call on @GlobalAthleteHQ to stand with Iranian athletes who are being silenced, imprisoned, and executed simply for raising their voices,” she wrote on X.