Iran Executes 19-Year-Old Int’l Wrestling Star Saleh Mohammadi, Sparks Fear For Other Athletes

20th March 2026 at 12:16 PM

1 minute read

Tehran : Iran has executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler along with two other protesters in public hangings in Qom, according to state media and human rights groups. Saleh Mohammadi, a rising wrestling talent, was executed on Thursday alongside Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi. State media reported that the executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom. Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) raised serious concerns about the case and warned that more executions could follow.

The protesters executed today were sentenced to death following grossly unfair trials, based on confessions extracted under torture and coercion, said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the group. We consider these executions to constitute extrajudicial killings, carried out with the intent of creating terror to suppress political dissent, he added. Amiry-Moghaddam also warned of what may come next. “We are facing a very real and imminent risk of mass executions of protesters. The international community must act with urgency.”

Amnesty International said the three men were denied adequate defence and forced to make confessions. It added that the case was pushed through “fast-tracked proceedings that bore no resemblance to a meaningful trial. Nima Far, an Iranian combat athlete and human rights activist, called the execution “a blatant political murder.” His execution was a blatant political murder, part of the Islamic Republic’s pattern of targeting athletes to crush dissent and terrorize society, Far told Fox News.

He said the case echoes the 2020 execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, which drew global outrage. Far urged international sports bodies to take action. “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,” he said.