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Iran Executes Wrestler Convicted Of Homicide


Iran is one of the world's leading executioners.
Iran is one of the world's leading executioners.

Reports from Iran say a wrestler has been executed on charges of homicide.

According to the reports, 30-year-old wrestler Mehdi Ali Hosseini was hanged in prison in the southwestern city of Dezful on January 25.

Hosseini, who has been described as a regional-level wrestler, had been convicted five years earlier of killing a youth during a quarrel in the town of Andimeshk and sentenced to death.

The death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court last year.

In September, Iran executed fellow wrestler Navid Afkari for allegedly killing a security guard during a protest in Shiraz in southern Iran in 2018.

The execution of another wrestler in September sparked an international outcry.

The 27-year-old Navid Afkari had been convicted of stabbing a security guard to death during anti-government protests in 2018 -- charges he had denied.

Iran is one of the world's leading executioners.

At least 251 people were executed by Iranian authorities in 2019, according to Amnesty International.

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