Former Iran national water polo player Reza Soleimani has warned that the execution of wrestler Saleh Mohammadi will not be the last, accusing global sports bodies of inaction and calling on the Olympic movement to uphold its own principles.

Speaking to Sportsin, Soleimani said more athletes could lose their lives unless the International Olympic Committee and international federations “wake up” and respond to what he describes as systemic abuses in Iranian sport.

He sharply criticised recent remarks by Kirsty Coventry, who has emphasised the role of sports diplomacy, arguing that such an approach aligns, in practice, with repression.

“Sports diplomacy, as it is being applied, supports the discriminatory policies of the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Soleimani said. “For decades, our women have been forced to compete under compulsory hijab. Iranian athletes are banned from competing against Israel. Women are restricted from participating in multiple sports disciplines. Yet the IOC continues to integrate representatives of this system into its own structure.”

Soleimani went further, saying that the IOC itself is violating its own Charter.

“Defending the human rights of athletes is not interference in a country’s internal affairs,” he said. “No one is asking the IOC to legislate for Iran or intervene in its courts. Simply adhering to its own Olympic Charter would be enough.”

Reza Soleimani

Highlighting the scale of athlete migration, Soleimani pointed to the growing number of Iranians competing under refugee status.

“Look at the number of Iranian athletes in the Olympic Refugee Team and ask why so many are forced to leave their country,” he said.

He also revealed that many Iranian athletes in exile contributed to a recent open letter addressed to Coventry, while others declined to participate out of fear of losing IOC scholarships.

Two open letters, published on January 27 and March 9, urged the IOC leadership to address issues in Iranian sport, including gender and religious discrimination, as well as alleged links between sports governance and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

According to Soleimani, those appeals have gone unanswered.

“We made it clear that Iran’s National Olympic Committee does not represent Iranian athletes,” he said. “The IOC cannot claim to care about athletes while engaging with figures such as Mahmoud Khosravi Vafa, a senior member of the IRGC, and even supporting candidates linked to him.”

He also criticised the silence of both the IOC and United World Wrestling following Mohammadi’s execution.

“Iranian athletes, like ordinary citizens, take to the streets and protest peacefully. They are killed, imprisoned, forced into confessions, denied access to independent legal representation,” Soleimani said. “Yet officials like Coventry insist they are ‘just a sports organisation’.”

Soleimani ended with a direct message to the IOC leadership: “Neutrality in the face of injustice is itself a position.”