Alireza Dabir's Presidency in Doubt; Wrestling Federation Elections Annulled by Court Ruling

The elections of the Iranian Wrestling Federation held on July 13 were annulled by a public court ruling following a complaint from five candidates. During the elections, all 38 votes were cast for Alireza Dabir, thereby extending his presidency for another four years. Following the announcement of this result, Abbas Jadidi, Abdollah Azizi, Hamid Bani-Tamim, Hamid Seyfi, and Bahman Safari filed a complaint against the Ministry of Sports and the Wrestling Federation due to 'non-compliance with certain articles of the statute.' According to the ruling from Branch 90 of the Public Law Court of the Sadr Judicial Complex in Tehran, the 'statute of the federation,' which is supposed to oversee 'legal compliance, registration, and qualification of candidates,' was not adhered to, thus leading to the annulment of the elections. The ruling can be appealed within 20 days from the date of notification. An official from the Wrestling Federation stated that he 'is not familiar with legal issues' and told Mehr News Agency that this ruling is 'not a significant matter.' This unnamed official claimed that the court pertains to 'natural persons' while 'the Ministry of Sports is a legal entity,' and that 'the Administrative Justice Court can annul the elections of a federation.' He also asserted that 'the federation's elections were conducted completely legally' and that 'the legal department of the federation will follow up on the matter.' Alireza Dabir had previously faced public and media criticism for his anti-American remarks on the second anniversary of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In a video interview, he spoke of his practical commitment to the slogan 'Death to America.'