Iran won its first medal in Tokyo this week, a gold in marksmanship. Javad Foroughi, a 41-year-old member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is the champion. Foroughi was sent to Iraq at the request of his government to undermine the country’s fragile democracy, and then to Syria, where Assad enlisted the help of Iran and Russia to massacre half a million Syrians.

Javad Foroughi member of the IRGC

After winning, Foroughi delivered a military salute from the podium while Iran’s national anthem played. Foroughi said he was apparently a nurse who claims to have only started shooting four years ago.

This was conceivable since Foroughi’s past had no bearing on the Olympic Committee’s decision to award him the gold medal.

 

 

The regime elevates its pro-regime sportsmen

It highlighted the harsh truth about allowing Iran to compete: the Committee welcomes the regime’s homicidal politics to the Olympics when it elevates its pro-regime sportsmen because Iran does not distinguish politics from sports, which is against the Committee’s by-lines.

This means that the International Olympic Committee indirectly supports the persecution and murder of pro-democracy athletes.

 

 

Navid Afkari, a wrestler, was a prominent opponent

An Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler was murdered in prison last year for unspecified reasons. Navid Afkari, a wrestler, was a prominent opponent of the dictatorship. The authorities stated he was executed, but there is proof that he was killed under torture.

“We can’t think of a more grievous attack on the humanitarian values of the Olympic movement than the horrific execution of an athlete through a coerced confession obtained through torture,” World Players Association president Brendan Schwab stated at the time. Despite international athletes, organizations, and Iranians of all professions calling for action, the International Olympic Committee did not take action.

 

 

Athletes have long been silenced in Iran

Unfortunately, athletes have long been silenced in Iran. Ali Daei, a soccer player, is possibly Iran’s most famous athlete. Daei is the best scorer in international games with 109 goals. Yet, for the crime of organizing public fundraising for earthquake victims and speaking out against a corrupt soccer administrator, this national hero is blacklisted and barred from working in soccer-related activities in Iran.

 

 

Teen chess player Borna Derakhshani

In another case, because he played against an Israeli opponent, teen chess player Borna Derakhshani was unable to return to Iran for fear of punishment. The dread was justified: Iran has refused to participate against Israeli athletes for 42 years, which is also against the Committee’s statutes, though no one seems to mind. Iranian athletes routinely pretend to be injured in order to get around the bylaws and avoid competing against Israeli opponents. They have sought asylum to save their lives on the few occasions that they have defied the regime’s embargo.

As a result, Derakhshani has been competing for the United Kingdom, while his sister, Dorsa, a chess player, has been competing for the United States after refusing to wear a hijab during an overseas competition.

 

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has never taken action against Iran during this time. While the IOC allows Iran to bring its politics into sports, it still forbids athletes from expressing sympathy.

It’s difficult to justify the International Olympic Committee’s ban on freedom of speech, particularly speech in support of those who are risking their lives for freedom when Iran is only rewarded for mixing politics and sports by murdering and silencing athletes and persecuting those who compete against Israelis.

 

 

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