The president of Iran’s wrestling federation, Alireza Dabir, declared “Death to America” in a television interview on Wednesday just weeks before a scheduled wrestling dual meet between the national teams of the US and Iran to be held in Texas, JPost reports.
"We always chant ‘Death to America’ but importantly is showing it in action,” said Dabir, who won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling for Iran at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.
“A doctor, he might even be wearing a tie, but he is doing his job well. He is saying ‘Death to America.’ Some talk a lot but don’t do much. We need to prove it with an action that [Death to America],” he added.
Dabir’s call for the abolition of the United States comes a little over a month before the US national team is slated to compete against Iran’s team in Arlington, Texas on February 12.
It is unclear if the Dabir’s call for the obliteration of the US will compel Bender to cancel the dual meet.
The “Death to America” slogan is regularly shouted at rallies in Iran. Former President Hassan Rouhani, often touted as a “moderate” president, personally presided over “Death to America” chants during rallies in Iran, even though he claimed that Iranians “respect the American people”.
Similarly, former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, with whom the Obama administration negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal, was caught on camera joining in a public chant against the US, UK, and Israel.
Lawmakers in the Iranian parliament have also been documented chanting “Death to America” during a session.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed a few years ago that the slogan “Death to America” is directed at then-President Donald Trump and US leaders and not at the American nation.