Mojtaba Khamenei regime executes champion wrestler as Iran intensifies brutal crackdown during war
· Fox News
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.
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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."
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He 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."
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Iranian 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 lawyers. Closed-door proceedings. No right to appeal. I call on @GlobalAthleteHQ to stand with Iranian athletes who are being silenced, imprisoned, and executed simply for raising their voices. This is not just about sports. This is about human dignity."
Fox News Digital reported in late January that the official X account for the State Department in Farsi wrote, "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 massacring young people and destroying Iran’s future. We call on the Iranian regime to halt the execution of Saleh Mohammadi and all those sentenced to death for exercising their fundamental rights. #SalehMohammadi #StopExecutionsInIran #HumanRights #IranProtest."
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Elite Iranian American wrestlers told Fox News Digital in February that Iran’s regime must cease the executions of athletes. Sardar Pashaei, who won a Greco-Roman wrestling world championship title for Iran and coached the country’s elite Greco-Roman team, along with Afsoon Roshanzamir Johnston, the first American female wrestler to win a medal in world championship competition in 1989, urged the regime not to implement the targeted killing of athletes.
Pashaei told Fox Digital on Thursday that "My heart is broken for this young wrestler. Anyone who still shows sympathy for the Islamic Republic should understand — this is only a small glimpse of its brutality."
He added, "Before the internet was shut down, I spoke with one of Iran’s national wrestling team coaches. He warned me that Saleh’s case was critical. We were both deeply worried. I did everything I could — speaking to the media, raising awareness — but I could not save him. This regime is built on executions, fear, and hatred. It does not change. The International Olympic Committee and global sports bodies failed."
Iran International reported that Iran’s regime hanged Mohammadi and two additional Iranian men, Mehdi Ghasemiand Saeed Davoudi,"after being accused of killing two police officers during nationwide protests earlier this year, the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency reported."
The three men allegedly attacked "two police officers with knives and swords during protests on January 8 in the holy city of Qom."
The regime claimed that the men acted on behalf of Israel and the United States. Iran International noted this is "a frequent claim used by the Islamic Republic against protesters and dissidents."
Mohammadi won a bronze medal in September 2024, for Iran’s national freestyle wrestling at the Saytiyev International Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
The Hengaw organization for human rights posted wrestling footage of Mohammadi. Hengaw wrote on X: "Footage shows Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old athlete and member of Iran’s national wrestling team, who was secretly executed in the early hours of Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Qom Central Prison on charges of ‘enmity against God’ (moharebeh). Mohammadi had previously shared this video on his Instagram page, documenting his athletic journey and efforts toward success."
Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. State Department and Iran’s U.N. Mission in New York for comments.