By Hassan Nayebagha
Paris, April 4
Two months after the Iranian regime propaganda in its domestic and international media outlets over the expression of support by the Argentinean soccer star Diego Maradona for the Tehran regime, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to the scene to falsely claim that he supports Iranian and Argentinean athletes. Notoriously known as "terminator" among Iranians for delivering the coup de grace to more than 1,000 prisoners in the 1980s, Ahmadinejad is among officials responsible for the execution dozens of Iranian national champions.
Habib Khabiri, Member of Iran's national soccer team during the preliminary matches of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, Houshang Montazer ol-Zohour, member of Iran's national wrestling team in the Montreal Olympics, Forouzan Abdi, member of Iran's national women's volleyball team, Mahshid Razzaghi, member of Iran's under-21 soccer team, and Hamid Etrati, member of Iran's selected soccer team, were among 120,000 people executed for political reasons by the mullahs' regime.
Ironically, the only regime in contemporary era, which has executed dozens of its national sports champions, is trying to whitewash its shameful record through such theatrics and expensive sports masquerades. How could a regime which does not even spare Iran's renowned national champions claim that it respects athletes elsewhere around the world?
On December 23, 2007, through its English television channel, Press TV, the Iranian regime claimed that Maradona was interested in traveling to Iran and meeting Ahmadinejad. After meeting the families of the victims of the Buenos Aires bombing, which left more than 80 dead, in which an Argentinean Court and the Interpol implicated the regime officials, Maradona refused to pay a visit to Tehran.
On the same day, I addressed a letter signed by six Iranian and world champions who are members of the Iranian Resistance to Maradona asking him to condemn “the execution of Iranian people and the national champions by the mullahs’ regime”.
Immediately, the state-run media launched virulent attacks on Maradona and insulted him. The government-controlled Tabnak website wrote on December 26, 2007, "The trip to Iran by this Argentinean soccer player who is infamous for his moral decadence and addiction to narcotics and performance drugs not only has no political benefits for Iran, but from a cultural point of view raises many questions. Why has Iran's mission has invited him to visit Iran?"
It is not clear as to why two months later, Ahmadinejad has against entered the fray and sent a bogus message to Maradona. The international media and even Press TV had reported that Maradona had signed his shirt and had written "With all my heart, I support the Iranian people. "There was no mention of Ahmadinejad or other regime leaders”.
It goes without saying that amid the nuclear crisis and the adoption of Security Council sanction resolutions as well as Tehran's meddling in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, Ahmadinejad has found himself in dire need of making the headlines in other countries.
Does Ahmadinejad, whose hands are stained with the blood of Iran's national sports champions, intends to export his ambitions and crisis-making to Latin America as well?
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Hassan Nayebagha is a former member of Iran's national soccer team in the 1978 Argentina World Cup