Iran’s judiciary executed Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old national freestyle wrestling champion, in the early hours of Thursday, March 19, 2026. The regime carried out the killing despite a direct warning from the U.S. State Department and desperate appeals from elite Iranian-American wrestlers.
Mohammadi and two other young men, Mehdi Ghasemi and Saeed Davoudi, were hanged at Qom Central Prison on charges of “enmity against God.” The Hengaw organization for human rights posted wrestling footage of Mohammadi on X and reported that he was secretly executed. Iran International, citing the judiciary-linked Mizan news agency, reported the three were accused of killing two police officers during nationwide protests on January 8 in the holy city of Qom.
The regime also claimed the men acted on behalf of Israel and the United States.
Mohammadi was no anonymous dissident. He won a bronze medal for Iran’s national freestyle wrestling team at the Saytiyev International Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, in September 2024. He was a member of Iran’s national team, a young man who represented his country on the world stage.
None of that mattered to the mullahs running Iran’s courts.
As Fox News Digital reported, the U.S. State Department’s official Farsi-language X account had warned Iran in late January not to go through with the execution. The statement read:
“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.”
Iran ignored every word.
Human rights activist and Iranian combat athlete Nima Far, an expert on elite Iranian wrestling, told Fox News Digital the execution was politically driven. He drew a direct line to the regime’s history of murdering athletes who challenge its authority.
“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.”
Far reserved sharp criticism for international sports bodies that failed to act. He said the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling should have issued public ultimatums threatening Iran’s immediate suspension rather than relying on what he called “ineffective quiet diplomacy.”
Iran expert Alizreza Nader echoed that call for consequences:
“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.”
Mohammadi’s execution is not an isolated act. The regime has systematically targeted wrestlers, bodybuilders, and other athletes during the current protest crackdown. The New York Post reported that Iranian security forces have singled out wrestlers and bodybuilders because of their popularity and perceived influence during anti-regime protests.
The Post detailed the case of Shahab Fallahpour, another 19-year-old wrestler reportedly killed by security forces during protests in Andimeshk on January 9. Iran International reported Fallahpour was allegedly shot by a rooftop sniper and buried before dawn with only his parents present under government supervision.
Former Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling coach Sardar Pashaei described the scale of the violence:
“In less than 10 days, the Iranian regime shot dead more than 30 athletes across the country.”
Pashaei, who won a Greco-Roman world championship title for Iran and later coached the country’s elite team, told Fox News Digital he tried to save Mohammadi’s life but could not:
“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.”
Iranian American activist Masih Alinejad wrote on X that the regime had signaled it would halt executions of protesters, then did the opposite. She described the legal proceedings against the three men as a farce:
“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.”
The execution came just ten days after Mojtaba Khamenei replaced his father Ali Khamenei as Iran’s supreme leader on March 9, 2026. The new supreme leader inherited the machinery of repression, and wasted no time using it.
Fox News Digital reported that both the IOC and United World Wrestling had put out statements after Mohammadi first received his death sentence. The outlet sent new press queries to both organizations following the execution. Fox News Digital also reached out to the U.S. State Department and Iran’s U.N. Mission in New York for comment.
The article does not indicate any of those organizations responded.
Nima Far demanded that the international sports community stop treating Iran as a normal participant:
“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.”
Lawdan Bazargan, quoted by the New York Post, framed the regime’s strategy plainly:
“These executions and detentions are not about law or discipline. They are about intimidation, sending a message that no one, not even national heroes, is beyond punishment if they defy the Islamic Republic.”
Consider the facts:
Quiet diplomacy bought Saleh Mohammadi nothing. Polite statements from Lausanne bought him nothing. The regime heard every appeal, weighed every consequence, and concluded that hanging a 19-year-old bronze medalist in a prison at dawn carried no real price.
They were right. Until international sports bodies and Western governments impose costs that actually hurt, bans, not statements; suspensions, not concern, the Islamic Republic will keep killing its own athletes for the crime of wanting freedom.
A regime that hangs its champions in the dark has told the world exactly what it is. The only question is whether the world will keep pretending otherwise.
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