Raisi's Ministry of Culture Criticizes Wrestling Federation President; From Claims of Timely Prayer to Expulsion of Journalist

Following the controversial and scandalous behavior of Alireza Dabir, the President of the Wrestling Federation, a video surfaced showing him expelling a critical journalist from the meeting of the Mazandaran Wrestling Assembly. This behavior of the Wrestling Federation president towards a journalist sparked reactions from media professionals. Among them, Iman Shamsai, the Director General of Domestic Press at the Ministry of Culture, wrote on his Instagram: "The slap from a city council member and the hands of the Wrestling Federation president as a sign of expelling the journalist, although a mistake and a sign of the arrogance prevailing among some managers, reveals more than anything the weakness of the media guild system. The ease with which public relations departments issue statements claiming that he is not a journalist or not a specialized journalist, or that he made a related or unrelated comment, is an assertion that lacks a legal mechanism for rejection or proof." He added: "Dabir's behavior is further questioned when he talks about the principles of chivalry and timely prayer but raises his voice through a loudspeaker and calls security. Public opinion will judge these behaviors, but the weakness of our professional system must also be addressed." However, the Wrestling Federation, in a statement regarding the incident at the Mazandaran Wrestling Assembly, wrote: "What that journalist did was not befitting the members present at the assembly, and regarding the expulsion of the journalist from the meeting, the president of the federation exercised his legal authority." The public relations of the Wrestling Federation added in its statement: "The president's remarks were endorsed by the wrestlers present at the meeting, but the journalist, who does not even work in the sports field, suddenly made an out-of-turn comment about the president's remarks and subsequently completed the reason for this action with a disrespectful sentence, which led Mr. Dabir to exercise his legal authority and prevent that individual from continuing to attend the assembly." Recently, Alireza Dabir's public prayer at an official meeting also made headlines. In response to criticisms of this manner of praying, the Wrestling Federation president stated that his prayer was a recommended one and that since he had attacked the enemies of the regime, they retaliated against him by broadcasting a video of his prayer.