Inran’s public hanging of Saleh Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi have triggered alarm among rights groups, who say the convictions followed coercion and unfair trials.
BY PC Bureau
March 20, 2026: Iran has publicly executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler along with two other protesters in Qom, according to state media and human rights groups, in what activists describe as a major escalation in Tehran’s crackdown on dissent.
Saleh Mohammadi, an emerging wrestling talent, was executed on Thursday alongside Saeed Davodi and Mehdi Ghasemi. The three had been accused of involvement in the killing of two police officers during protests on January 8, 2026.
State media said the executions were carried out “in the presence of a group of people in Qom”. They are the first known public hangings of protesters linked to the nationwide unrest that began in late December 2025 and continued into January 2026.
Human rights organisations voiced alarm over the executions and warned that more could follow.
🚨Tragedy in Qom, Iran
19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi executed for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) after anti-government protest
Executed alongside Mehdi Ghasemi & Saeed Davoudi, one of youngest athletes executed#محمد_بن_سلمان #Iran #provadolíder #DíaDelPadre pic.twitter.com/iPDiEtrqhd
— The Wonk (@thewonkin) March 20, 2026
Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) said the men were sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials based on confessions allegedly extracted under torture and coercion.
“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 Norway-based group.
“We consider these executions to constitute extrajudicial killings, carried out with the intent of creating terror to suppress political dissent,” he added.
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Amiry-Moghaddam warned that the risk of further executions was immediate and serious.
“We are facing a very real and imminent risk of mass executions of protesters. The international community must act with urgency,” he said.
Human rights groups said Mohammadi had been forced to confess under torture to charges including “waging war against God”, a capital offence in Iran.
Amnesty International said the three men were denied adequate legal defence and compelled to make confessions. It said the case was rushed through fast-tracked proceedings “that bore no resemblance to a meaningful trial”.
Nima Far, an Iranian combat athlete and human rights activist, described Mohammadi’s execution as “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 terrorise society,” Far told Fox News.
Far said the case echoed the 2020 execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari, which sparked international outrage.
He also called on global sporting bodies to respond.
“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.
The executions come after months of unrest earlier this year that resulted in thousands of arrests. Activists fear additional death sentences may be carried out in the coming weeks.
IHRNGO urged the international community to intervene, saying the European Union in particular should use “all available diplomatic tools” to prevent further executions and protect those at risk.
“The Islamic Republic is fighting for its survival,” Amiry-Moghaddam said. “And it knows that the greatest threat to its existence comes from the Iranian people who demand fundamental change.”
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