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sanctions and hold violators accountable.
2.7​ ​Iran executes champion wrestler despite appeals for clemency
Iran at the weekend executed a young wrestler accused of murder despite calls from international human rights organisations for him to be spared the death penalty.
Navid Afkari, 27, was sentenced to death for the murder of a security guard during the anti-government protests that broke out in 2018 after a sudden increase in fuel was introduced. He said he had been tortured into making a confession.
Afkari was buried in the small town of Sepidan in Fars Province in central Iran on September 13. Video footage showed people screaming and wailing over what they said was the state-ordained murder of the athlete.
Wrestlers in Iran have a high standing in society. The country has previously seen famous wrestlers murdered. The most famous was Gholamreza Takhti, murdered by the last Shah of Iran’s secret police, SAVAK, in 1968. This latest execution by the state has echoes of that notorious case.
In an audio recording leaked by Amnesty International, Afkari said: "If I am executed, I want you to know that an innocent person, even though he tried and fought with all his strength to be heard, was executed."
His lawyer reported before his hanging that he was stopped from seeing his family, though access is required by Iranian law.
Even US President Donald Trump appealed for clemency, saying the wrestler’s “sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) described Afkari’s execution as “very sad news” and said its thoughts were with the family.
There are now calls for the IOC to permanently ban Iran from future sporting events.
2.8​ ​Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile now more than 10 times larger than amount permitted by nuclear deal says UN watchdog
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium now stands at more than 10 times the limit set down in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a September 4 quarterly report.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also noted that Iran has started allowing access to sites where the country was suspected of having stored or used undeclared nuclear material.
Iran as of August 25 had stockpiled 2,105.4 kilograms of low-enriched uranium, compared to the 1,571.6 kilograms reported on May 20, the watchdog stated.
10​ IRAN Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com