Rusty Weiss
President Donald Trump condemned the Iranian regime on Thursday after it publicly hanged 19-year-old wrestling champion Saleh Mohammadi for participating in anti-government protests.
Mohammadi, a rising talent on Iran’s national wrestling team who had competed internationally and harbored Olympic dreams, was executed alongside two other young men in Qom on March 19th.
Iranian authorities accused the trio of killing police officers during January protests in the city, charges that human rights groups say were extracted under torture and resulted in an unfair trial with no real due process.
Trump, though, believes Mohammadi and others were executed for actually speaking out against the barbaric regime.
“About two weeks ago, they put out a notice that if you protest, we will shoot you. They kill them. Look what they did to the wrestler. They killed him for, for speaking up. They killed him. He was a star wrestler, a great wrestler, actually,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ The Five.
Trump Blasts Iranian Regime for Executing 19-Year-Old Star Wrestler Saleh Mohammadi
The President wasn’t mincing words. These barbarians deserve nothing but hell for doing what they did. It’s a good reminder that, while “no kings” protesters in this country run around with their little protest signs whining about “fascism,” there are real animals out there.
The “no kings” rubes will get to go home at the end of the day because, despite their best efforts, we live in a country that allows free speech. Mohammadi will never be able to return to his family. Why? Because he lived under real authoritarianism, not the made-up kind that exists only in the minds of liberals.
Trump has repeatedly called the Iranian leadership “thugs and animals,” emphasizing that such executions reveal the true nature of a regime that crushes dissent with public gallows while the world watches.
“Iran has great wrestlers, and he was a star, one of the best. And they killed him because he spoke up. He spoke against the regime, which is largely decimated,” Trump added.
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The killing has sparked outrage among U.S. Olympians and wrestling communities, with renewed calls for the International Olympic Committee to ban Iran from international competition.
It serves as a grim reminder of the regime’s brutality even amid escalating tensions with the West.
Trump’s blunt response underscores a clear contrast: while the previous administration often downplayed or negotiated with Tehran, his administration continues to shine a harsh light on the Islamic Republic’s savage crackdown on its youth.