Iran must be banned from Olympics – opinion – The Jerusalem Post

With the Olympic Games underway, weve already seen inspirational stories of lifelong dreams coming to fruition through sport. But some athletes never get the chance to reach their potential or attend the Olympic Games. Consider Navid Afkari, the Iranian wrestling champion. Navid will never get to compete in the Olympics, despite being a world class athlete, because he was murdered by the Iranian regime for opposing the government. Yet despite this appalling crime committed by Iran, as well as many others, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sporting bodies continue to allow Iran to compete. Why?

The tragic story of Navid occurred after the 2018 Iran protests, in which thousands of Iranians rose up against the governments oppressive rule. Afkari, who was a critic of the regime, was accused of killing a security guard during the protests and was promptly arrested. He was charged with murder and convicted after a torture-induced confession and with highly questionable evidence. Despite calls from the IOC, US president Donald Trump, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White not to execute Afkari, the regime moved forward with the execution in September 2020.

Irans alarming abuse of athletes is not new. Its been occurring since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. For example, in 1981, wrestler Hooshang Montazeralzohoor was executed for his anti-government stance. In 1988, the regime executed volleyball player Fouzan Abdi and football player Mahshid Razaghi both political dissidents. In 1984, they executed football player Habib Khabiri for the same reasons. In 2012, they executed kickboxer Majid Jamali-Fashi, accusing him of being an Israeli spy. In 2021, after the execution of Afkari, they executed a second champion wrestler, Mehdi Ali Hosseini as well as a champion boxer and prominent sports coach, Ali Mutairi.

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He is not alone. Dozens of Iranian athletes have fled the oppression of the regime which destroys their hard work and dreams. One Iranian ex-athlete who fled to the United States confessed to CNN that Iranian intelligence watches the teams 24/7 and they are punished if they do anything wrong while abroad. I want to ask [the] IOC, are you aware of this? You talk about gender equality and race equality. Are you aware that one of your members is violating the charter all the time? You have been silent about this... This is sport, it has to be about peace and friendship, but they teach you to hate, he said.

The IOC has no excuse. It is well known and documented by both international human rights organizations as well as refugee athletes who have fled Iran for their lives that the state of Iran violates every principle the Olympic Games represent. Iran has no place in the Olympics and the IOC cannot continue to allow these egregious violations of human rights to occur right in front of their faces. The IOC must ban Iran from the Olympic Games.

The writer is the CEO of Social Lite Creative LLC and a research fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute.

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Iran must be banned from Olympics - opinion - The Jerusalem Post