— NUFDI (@NUFDIran) September 14, 2020
The demonstrators assembled in front of Pakistan’s embassy which represents the Islamic Republic of Iran’s interests in the US. The US and Iran’s regime do not maintain diplomatic relations.The public intellectual Mariam Memarsadeghi tweeted from the protest:”Right now–protesting Khamenei’s murderous regime at Interests Section in Washington, DC.”Ali Khamenei is the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.Memarsadeghi’s tweet showed a picture of a demonstrator holding a handmade sign stating that “80 million Iranians are taken hostage by their government.”
— Mariam Memarsadeghi (@memarsadeghi) September 14, 2020
The demonstration was blanketed with the the Lion and Sun flag that was Iran’s national flag prior to the 1979 Islamic revolution. Iranian authorities executed Afkari on Saturday. Afkari, 27, allegedly killed a security guard for a water company during anti-regime protests in 2018. But Afkari said in an audio that was smuggled out of prison that he was tortured to confess the crime. Human rights organizations maintain Afkari was brutally beaten to force him to make a false confession. The execution of Afkari has sparked international outrage over the clerical regime’s crackdown on dissent.The Jerusalem Post asked the International Olympic Committee if the organization plans to ban Iran’s regime from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.An IOC spokesman told the Post on Monday that “The IOC, as a civil, non-governmental organization, has neither the remit nor the ability to change the laws or political system of a sovereign country. This is the legitimate role of governments and the respective intergovernmental organizations. Exclusion of an NOC [National Olympic Committee] from the Olympic Games would punish the athletes of this country just because they live under a particular political or judicial system. This is even more true given that the NOC of Iran facilitated the IOC’s efforts in this case.”Iran is a NOC country. In January, Iran’s regime assured the president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, that it would not violate the Olympic Charter and discriminate against Israeli athletes by boycotting them. Critics view Iran’s execution of a decorated wrestler as a violation of the human rights provisions of the Charter.The IOC spokesman said “the execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran was very sad news. The IOC is still shocked by this announcement. The IOC and United World Wrestling (UWW) took action as soon as we learned about the case. We were in contact with non-governmental organizations and human rights organizations from the very beginning. We also took part in conversations which included representatives from various governments, human rights organizations and the United Nations.The IOC and UWW [United World Wrestling] also followed up with the Iranian NOC and the Iranian Wrestling Federation respectively, which were doing their utmost to facilitate a solution. Thomas Bach, the IOC President, wrote personal letters to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran appealing for mercy for Navid Afkari, while respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”Mary Harvey, CEO of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, has told Sky Sports News on Monday “They just killed a kid and it’s inflammatory, it’s egregious. It is important that we remember Navid’s life by recommitting ourselves to why this work is so important. So I think it’s a rallying cry for all of us to say ‘Enough, you can’t target people’.She added that “We can’t save the world, but we can look at sport and sport’s role, and there’s no free lunch. If you want to host a mega-sporting event and bring the world into your country then you have to be willing to deal with scrutiny on who you are.”