WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Iran Stands Tall on American Soil With Historic Triumph
LAS VEGAS -- Iran won the under-23 freestyle wrestling world team title in Las Vegas on Sunday, finishing ahead of Russia with four gold medals and nine podium finishes.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei and senior officials hailed the victory on Monday as proof of the country’s resilience on hostile soil.
The Iranian team amassed 180 points to edge Russia, which scored 171, while the host United States finished third with 104 points.
Iran’s triumph completed a double at the championships, following its earlier victory in the Greco-Roman team standings, held at the same venue from October 11 to 14, where the Iranian team scored 119 points
with three gold and two bronze medals, finishing ahead of Kazakhstan and Russia.
Gold medals in the freestyle competition went to Ahoora Khateri at 65kg, Mehdi Yousefi at 79kg, Abolfazl Rahmani at 92kg and Abolfazl Muhammadnejad at 125kg, with Iran medaling in nine of the ten weight categories.
“The world championship victory of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s national under-23 freestyle wrestling team has filled the hearts of the great and appreciative Iranian nation with joy and pride,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a message.
“This achievement, which included winning nine medals of different colors, is, like the recent championship victory of Iran’s U23 Greco-Roman wrestling team, the result of planning, management and the tireless efforts of dedicated managers and coaches, as well as Iran’s strong and valiant young athletes.”
The Leader congratulated the athletes, coaches and the Iranian nation, particularly “the country’s champion young generation.”
President Masoud Pezeshkian said the successive freestyle and Greco-Roman titles demonstrated Iran’s capacity to achieve “even bigger” successes, describing the freestyle triumph as “a shining example of the capabilities, determination and merit of Iranian youth on the world stage.”
He called for greater investment in sports infrastructure and stronger support for young talent.
Parliament Speaker Muhammad Bagher Ghalibaf praised the victory.
“You raised Iran’s glorious flag on American soil under the circumstances that they dreamed of erasing your homeland’s name from the map, and your valiant struggle forced them to respect that name and the sacred flag of Iran,” he said.
Major General Ahmad Vahidi, chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, said the victory is “a clear response” to Iran’s adversaries.
“Winning the world title in freestyle wrestling at a time when the enemies of this nation seek to diminish Iran’s glory and the prominence of the sacred flag of the Islamic Republic is a clear sign of firm resolve, self-confidence, and the capabilities of the country’s young generation,” he said.
The championships unfolded on the soil of a country that has been waging a terrorist war alongside Israel against the Islamic Republic and, after facing military defeat, has turned to economic terrorism and the siege of Iran’s ports.
That hostility was on display in the visa process for the Iranian delegation: with a week to go before the championships, no visas had been issued, prompting the Iranian Wrestling Federation to warn that the teams would not participate if even one wrestler was denied entry.
Visas were eventually approved for nearly the entire delegation, though one coach’s clearance was withheld and later pursued by the federation. Iranian officials cited such delays as evidence of U.S. hostility, describing the visa issue as “mischief by the host.”
Against that backdrop, the wrestlers’ performance was more than athletic achievement.
The image of the Iranian flag raised in Las Vegas was a rebuke to Washington’s terrorist campaign—a campaign whose president, Donald Trump, has repeatedly threatened to wipe Iran out and insulted the Iranian nation.
Trump declared in September that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” and told Fox News he was weighing “wiping Iran out” or “blowing up the entire nation”.
He has called Iranians “scum,” “sick people,” and a “crazy nation”. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, responded that Iranians “do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valor”.
The display of the Iranian flag by the athletes was also a blow to the delusional ambitions of U.S.-based Iranian monarchists who have spared no efforts during international matches to harass Iranian athletes with bogus flags and insults.
Iran’s sports minister had warned before the World Cup that his team would withdraw if “unofficial flags”—the old monarchist banner used by opposition groups—or hostile slogans appeared in stadiums. In Las Vegas, no such disruption marred the Iranian triumph.