Who Was Saleh Mohammadi? Iran Publicly Executes 19-Year-Old Wrestler For Protest Against Khamenei

Iran, under the new regime of Mojtaba Khamenei, have executed three men for their protests in January. Among the three was a 19-year-old champion wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, in what was a public hanging. Iranian media have claimed that the accused carried out operations supporting the USA against Iran, the legitimacy of which is questioned by human rights groups.

As per EuroNews, Mehdi Ghasemi, Saleh Mohammadi, and Saeed Davoudi were executed in the city of Qom, near Tehran, after being found guilty of a serious crime called “moharebeh,” which means waging war against God under Iran’s Islamic law.

The report states that Mohammadi, as with the other two, were executed without a fair trial and had given confessions under torture. The confessions were for being charged with killing of two police officers and carrying out "operational actions" in favour of Israel and the United States.

Saleh Mohammadi, a teenage wrestling champion who had taken part in international competitions, who according to Amnesty International was denied "adequate defence and forced to make 'confessions'...in fast-tracked proceedings that bore no resemblance to a meaningful trial."

Mohammadi had turned 19 only last week. The US State Department on Wednesday had demand that Tehran overturn the death penalty.

The trio had peacefully protested in January against the regime of Ayatollah Khamenei. Khamenei was himself killed in the ongoing US-Israel-Iran War, with his residence speficially targeted by airstrikes.

Mohammadi’s execution has drawn comparisons to that of wrestler Navid Afkari, whose death sparked international outrage back in 2020. Afkari was accused and convicted of murdering a security guard during the 2018 Iranian protests. He was later tortured into a confession and executed on September 12, 2020.