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Critics of Iran’s government, including a former leader of the national wrestling team, are advocating for a ban on Iran from international sports competitions. This call for action follows the recent execution of numerous anti-government protesters by Tehran.
Wrestling, a beloved sport in Iran, has felt the impact of the regime’s violent suppression of demonstrators pushing to end the country’s nearly five-decade-old authoritarian rule. According to Iran International, a London-based independent news outlet, the regime recently killed Parsa Lorestani, a 15-year-old protester and wrestler from Zagheh in western Iran. Lorestani was shot by a government sniper during a protest in Khorramabad on January 8. The news source shared footage of the young athlete wrestling.
Currently, wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi faces the threat of execution in Iran due to his involvement in protests, while global efforts intensify to save him.
Iranian-American Sardar Parshei, once the head coach of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team, expressed his sorrow on social media, “Another wrestler murdered. Erfan Kari was 20. A champion. He had the potential to be an Olympian, but instead, the Islamic regime executed him for his protest. Many wrestlers remain imprisoned. Speak up for them. Save their lives.”
Renowned dissident Masih Alinejad informed her 786,800 followers through a social media post that, “The Islamic Republic has massacred over 40,000 protesters, many of whom were athletes, children, teenagers, and people from various sports backgrounds. Meanwhile, the regime shamelessly uses international sports events to legitimize its actions and hide its atrocities. With the United States set to host the upcoming FIFA World Cup, we call on FIFA to take a strong and principled stance.”
Alinejad noted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is recognized by the U.S. and European Union as a terrorist organization, controls all aspects of Iranian society, including sports.
“FIFA, the International Olympic Committee and all global sports organizations must refuse to legitimize a system that massacres its own people and athletes for demanding freedom and human dignity,” Alinejad said. “Boycott the Islamic Republic from all international sporting competitions.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pictured sitting next to senior military official in Iran. (Getty Images)
Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston, the first American female wrestler to win a medal in world championship competition in 1989, told Fox News Digital the slaughter of protesters in her homeland makes her sick.
“It is with a very sad and heavy heart that I speak for the Iranian people and the dire situation currently unfolding in my homeland.,” she said. “Having been a young girl in Iran during the 1979 Revolution, I vividly remember the feeling of the clocks being turned back 100 years as women’s freedoms and fundamental human rights were stripped away overnight.”
Roshanzamir Johnston said females women are denied the basic right to participate in athletics, and young male wrestlers are being tortured and executed.
“We can no longer turn a blind eye to this brutality,” she said. “It is time for a call to action: we must find a way to place undeniable pressure on the regime to end these mass killings without stripping our athletes of their hard-earned opportunities. The world must stand with the people of Iran before more of our bravest souls are lost.”
Parshei, who was a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler, told Fox News Digital that he is also campaigning for the IOC and the United World Wrestling organization to block Iran from competitions.
Sepehr Ebrahimi was shot and killed by security forces during anti-regime protests near Tehran on Jan. 11. (Simay Azadi/ National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI))
When asked if the IOC would ban Iran and whether the Olympic body agrees with the U.S. demand that Iran not execute 19-year-old wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, who faces an imminent death penalty, the IOC media team directed Fox News Digital to a January 29 statement on the matter.
“We will continue to work with our Olympic stakeholders to help where we can, often through quiet sport diplomacy. The IOC remains in touch with the Olympic community from Iran.”
Dan Russell, executive director of the U.S.-based Wrestling for Peace organization, said sports and diplomacy can be complicated, but in the current situation, athletes must stand together.
“Neutrality cannot mean indifference when lives are at stake,” Russell said. “Sport must take a stand for peace, respect, and human dignity.”
“Every option must be considered to demand an immediate halt to executions, the release of imprisoned wrestlers such as Saleh Mohammadi and Alireza Nejati, and basic protections for athletes who speak with conscience,” Russell added. “Athletes who represent the best of who we are as the wrestling family. “
A spokesman for Iran’s UN mission told Fox News Digital that “The mission declined to comment.”
But not all critics of Tehran’s brutal regime support banning Iran from sports competitions.
“I am not in favour of banning Iran’s wrestling team,” said Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on the Islamic Republic. “If Iran’s wrestling team competes, it’s an opportunity for more defections and protests against the regime by the spectators which will be televised and reach millions of viewers inside Iran, too.”
“The ban would just be a blanket victimization of other wrestlers who have trained long hours for this,” he added. “Having said that, the IOC and UWW should make some statement and make sure spectators are allowed to display pictures of the fallen wrestlers.”