The war waged by the United States and Israel against the Iranian Islamist government has not prevented the latter from continuing its repression of dissent and offers little support to its opponents. In recent hours, the ayatollahs' regime executed three people by hanging. Among them was Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old high-level wrestler—wrestling being the national sport in Iran.

According to available information, Mohammadi was accused of murdering a police officer during the widespread anti-regime protests last November. The verdict, however, cited "enmity against God" and being a foreign agent. The execution was initially intended to be public, but Iranian sources indicate that the condemned men were hanged behind closed doors in a prison in Qom, a city considered "holy" by the Islamic Republic. Ironically, the US State Department had demanded that the execution be suspended.

Nima Far, an Iranian human rights activist and athlete, quoted by Fox News, stated that this execution "is part of the Islamic Republic's plan to terrorize society by targeting athletes." In 2020, the regime had already executed wrestler Navid Afkari, despite a widespread international campaign in his favor. His supporters claimed at the time that the accusations against him were fabricated. Far also emphasized that "the International Olympic Committee and the International Wrestling Federation should have intervened publicly and threatened to suspend Iran, instead of favoring silent and ineffective diplomacy."

The three men executed are Saleh Mohammadi, Mehdi Ghasemi, and Saeed Davoudi. According to testimonies from human rights activists in Iran, the trials were held behind closed doors, without legal safeguards or the right of appeal, and the charges were obtained under torture.