Iranian athletes call for canceling February match after pro-regime ‘Death to America’ chant

Iranian dissidents understand the Islamic Republic of Iran better than anyone. They know the supremacist hatred and violent religious zeal that undergirds everything the regime engages in, from sports to politics.

When Iranian Wrestling Federation president Alireza Dabir proclaimed “Death to America” ahead of the US match next month in Texas, America should have canceled the event. As suggested in a Jihad Watch report, America should not be welcoming its enemies.

Biden (and globalists overall) fails to comprehend what Iranian dissidents understand well about the damage done by appeasement.

“After ‘Death to America’ chant, Iranian athletes want to cancel match,” by Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post, January 10, 2022:

An organization of Olympic and world-class Iranian athletes urged USA Wrestling to pull the plug on its slated February wrestling dual meet with the Islamic Republic’s squad after Tehran’s wrestling federation called for the violent death of America.
The move, made on Sunday, also follows Iran’s ban on female wrestling. One of the members of the organization is including the former head coach of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team.

The Jerusalem Post obtained a copy of the letter sent by the Iranian athletic and human rights organization United for Navid to the executive director of USA Wrestling, Rich Bender.

“USA Wrestling is inviting an organization [Iran’s Wrestling Federation] whose leadership rejoices in chanting ‘Death to America’ in front of TV cameras and encourages others to do the same, if not more,” wrote the former head of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team, Sardar Pashaei and manager of the Iranian athletic NGO United for Navid.

Pashaei, who won a world championship as a Greco-Roman wrestler for Iran and has since obtained US citizenship, wrote: “On behalf of thousands of Iranian athletes we urge you to refrain from inviting Iranian government-sponsored athletes as long as the government tortures and executes athletes, deprives women of participation in competitions, and chants “Death to America” in their media. Refrain from inviting officials and athletes who are government propaganda tools that are anti-women and anti-American.”

The Post reported last week that the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s wrestling federation, Alireza Dabir, declared “Death to America” in a television interview prior to the wrestling dual meet between the national teams of the US and Iran to be held in Texas.

“We always chant ‘Death to America’ but importantly is showing it in action,” said Dabir, who won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling for Iran at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000. Dabir added: “A doctor, he might even be wearing a tie, but he is doing his job well. He is saying ‘Death to America.’ Some talk a lot but don’t do much. We need to prove it with an action that [Death to America].”

Multiple press queries to Rich Bender, the executive director of USA Wrestling and to its communication director Gary Abbott were not immediately returned.

The campaign United for Navid seeks justice for the late champion Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari. The Islamic Republic of Iran hanged Afkari in September 2020 for his role in a protest against the Iranian regime’s political and economic corruption. Bender declined to comment in 2020 on the clerical regime’s execution of Afkari.

Rob Koehler, the director-general of sports human rights organization Global Athlete, told the Post: “Over the past year, the International Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling have received documented proof of athlete abuse in Iran including murder, torture, beatings, discrimination, arrests and denied access to competition, yet they have failed to act against Iran. The IOC and United World Wrestling’s failure to protect athlete safety and welfare can no longer be tolerated by the international community. This lack of action is clearly meant to appease the Iranian authorities rather than ensure athlete safety.”…