Trump Admin Tries To Step In As Reports Surface That Iran Will Execute 19-Year-Old Wrestling Star

The Trump administration is working to intervene as reports indicate Iran is preparing to execute a 19-year-old wrestling champion for his involvement in anti-regime protests.

Saleh Mohammadi, a rising wrestling star, was arrested by Iranian security forces on Jan. 15 after participating in demonstrations and now faces imminent execution, according to Iran International, a news operation based in London. The State Department on Thursday called on Tehran to halt the execution, warning that the Islamic Republic is “massacring young people and destroying Iran’s future.”

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports about Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old wrestling champion, who faces imminent execution,” the official Farsi language X account for the State Department posted on Jan. 29. “We call on the Iranian regime to immediately halt the execution of Saleh Mohammadi and all individuals who have been sentenced to death for seeking their fundamental rights.”

The planned execution is part of the Islamic regime‘s broader crackdown on protesters. The unrest began in late December in response to Iran’s struggling economy under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei