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.#محسن_مدهنى قهرمان جهان است، جمهوری اسلامی حتی اجازهٔ دست‌فروشی هم به این قهرمان نمیدهد! آنوقت ادعا میکنند این ورزش برای مردم است و اعضای کمپین #اتحاد_برای_نوید وطن فروش هستند و... خسته نشدید از چهل و دو سال خزعبل گویی؟ از کدام مردم سخن میگویی دیکتاتور #خامنه‌ای؟ pic.twitter.com/71DpW4hHMj
— Sam Rajabi (@samrajabii) November 22, 2020
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.Bouazizi set himself ablaze to protest the regime’s corruption.