TEHRAN — On Sunday, October 3, Iranian freestyle wrestler Hassan Yazdani won over his American rival David Taylor to become world’s champion. But what made this story into a political story is how a Saudi-backed network tried to bury this victory in the ground.

The story began when Yazdani left the arena victorious, towards the locker room, and Armin Ghobadi Pasha, Iran International’s correspondent in Oslo, Norway, tried to interview Yazdani, but he denied the request. This raises a question: Why Iranian athletes won’t take part in interviews with Iran International?

According to Wikipedia, Iran International was launched in May 2017, with the aim of serving the 80 million people that live in Iran and the Iranian diaspora around the world, in addition to informing and educating a global audience on the latest news and developments in Iran and across the Middle East.

False. Iran International was launched with the aim of disinformation campaign against the Iranian government, people and even athletes. Ghobadi Pasha launched a campaign to sanction Iranian athletes. He collaborated with the notorious self-proclaimed “human rights activist” Masih Alinejad, to stop Iranian athletes from competing in international competitions. 

Now the same person wants to interview Iranian athletes right after they emerge victorious from prestigious competitions. Impossible, and unbelievable. 

As a propaganda broadcast that supports terrorism, war, and sanctions, Iran International feels obliged to support sanctioning Iranian athletes. Yet, it feels good to see that Iranian wrestlers turned their request down. 

The incident united Iranian athletes against the Saudi-backed media outlets to sanction them. May this unity stand for longer. 
 

SA/PA