Key Points:

According to Iran’s state media and human rights groups, the country has reportedly executed 19-year-old, well-known wrestler Saleh Mohammadi, among two others, on March 19, 2026. The public hanging of Mohammadi, Saeed Davodi, and Mehdi Ghasemi took place in Qom, Iran, sparking concern over the rising suppression of dissent in the country. The trio were reportedly involved in nationwide protests against the Iranian government, which began on December 28, 2025.

The Iranian human rights group (IHRNGO) took to X to raise concerns over the executions, which were reportedly conducted in public. The killing of Iran’s rising athlete, Saleh Mohammadi, alongside two others, marks the first public execution following a mass uprising in Iran that led to a series of deaths.

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The 2026 Iranian protests escalated on January 8, 2026, when millions of people assembled in Tehran to demonstrate against the country’s economic crisis and rising inflation. Amid an internet blackout, Iranian security forces resorted to weapons and ammunition. TIME magazine reported that the intensified crackdown in the country resulted in more than 30,000 deaths.

The IHRNGO director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam condemned the executions of the protesters and warned about the “dangers of the mass execution of protesters and political prisoners in the coming weeks.” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam stated that the sentencing of the protesters was conducted through “grossly unfair trials.” He further alleged that their confessions were extracted through “torture and coercion.”

“We consider these executions to constitute extrajudicial killings carried out with the intent of creating terror to suppress political dissent,” Moghaddam wrote.

He further claimed that the country is currently at risk of mass executions of protesters and urged the international community to act immediately on the matter.

Who was Saleh Mohammadi?

Mohammadi was a 19-year-old freestyle wrestler who won a bronze medal at the Saitev International Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. The young athlete was arrested in January after the Iranian demonstrations suddenly escalated.

The three protesters, including Mohammadi, were accused of murdering two police personnel during the January 8, 2026, unrest. Officials stated that the police were attacked with knives and swords. The BBC reported that a semi official news agency named tasnim wrote that all the three accused were found guilty of the charges against them

The Iranian authorities claimed that the accused were acting under the direction of foreign powers such as the United States and Israel. The Iranian court ruled that the crime committed by the protesters was a threat to national security. It further charged them with moharebeh (enmity against God).

Mohammadi’s death has drawn widespread criticism and has been compared to the execution of another wrestler, Navid Afkari. Afkari was also executed following the 2018 Iranian protests and was accused of murdering a security guard.

Several human rights groups have claimed that Iranian security forces allegedly killed thousands of protesters and blamed the violence on foreign forces. The IHRNGO director stated that the European Union should use all “diplomatic tools” to prevent further executions.
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