Over 30% of Tehran’s street peddlers have university degrees and are unemployed. (Supplied)

November 25, 2020

The Islamic Republic of Iran has deprived a former champion Greco-Roman wrestler of his efforts to make ends meet as a street peddler.

Mohsen Madhani says in a video posted on social media that “An athlete and a world champion doesn’t deserve to be a street vendor.” He complains that Iran’s government doesn’t even let him sell goods on the sidewalk and make money for his life. He is speaking from Andimeshk, a city in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

“Iranian world Champion wrestler Mohsen Madhani got kicked out while he was selling stuff next to the street by Iranian government! What a shame! #freeiran #banirsports #nomoremullahs,” tweeted Sam Rajabi, an Iranian former Judo national team member and world champion, on Sunday.

Mariam Memarsadeghi, an advocate for democratic change in Iran and an expert on human rights violations in the Islamic Republic, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday: “While the regime’s thugs drive around in their luxury cars and send their kids and money abroad, honest, hardworking Iranians are denied a livable wage.”She added that, “Even the most talented, like champion wrestler Mohsen Madhani, can be left with no choice but to become a street peddler – and then the regime denies them even this. It’s important to remember that this regime came to power with promises of a dignified life for the poor. All it’s done is impoverish a nation that was, before the Islamo-Marxist revolution, progressing very quickly on all indicators of socioeconomic development.”A video on YouTube shows the former Greco-Roman wrestler performing a devastating toss on his Bulgarian opponent at the 2017 Cadet World Championships.

The case of Madhani comes two months after Iran’s regime hung another champion Greco-Roman wrestler, Navid Afkari, because he protested against regime corruption in 2018.The regime’s refusal to permit Madhani his street livelihood recalls the Tunisia regime’s crackdown of the young fruit vendor Mohammed Bouazizi in 2010 that led to mass protests, and the eventual overthrow of former Tunisia president Ben Ali’s authoritarian regime, thus kicking off what came to be the Arab Spring.
The Jerusalem Post 

About Track Persia

Track PersiaTrack Persia is a Platform run by dedicated analysts who spend much of their time researching the Middle East, in due process we fall upon many indications of growing expansionary ambitions on the part of Iran in the MENA region and the wider Islamic world. These ambitions commonly increase tensions and undermine stability.

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