Aryan Gholami, the grand master of Iranian chess, has twice refused to compete with the representative of the Zionist regime. In 2018 and 2019, during the Sweden and India competitions, he made this decision, which was widely reflected in the domestic and foreign media. This chivalrous behavior of the chess representative of our country was accompanied by a negative reaction from the officials of the competition, and Gholami withdrew from the competition.

Aryan Gholami said about these two important decisions he made during the competitions: In 2018 and 2019, during the competitions hosted by Sweden and India, I decided to refrain from competition with the representative of the child-killing Zionist regime in support of the oppressed people of Palestine and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution. In 2018, after I returned to the country from the competitions, I had a meeting with the Commander of the Hearts, Haj Qasem Soleimani, and I met with the Supreme Leader.

In response to whether there was any pressure from the authorities to make such a decision, he clarified: There was really no pressure. In the 2018 tournament, I was alone and had no contact with the officials to be pressured by them. The decision I made was completely based on my heart and conviction. In the second tournament, Paridar was with me, but again, there was no discussion from her about my competition or not, and I made that decision personally.

Regarding the consequences of the decisions he made, the Iranian chess grandmaster said: After I did not to compete with the representative of the Zionist regime in the 2019 competition, the pressure from the organizing authorities was so great that I withdrew from participating in the world competition. After that, the situation was such that I was not invited to any competition, but gradually these problems are being resolved. Of course, it had consequences for me inside the country.

Gholami noted: I think the main reason is the removal of obstacles to the efforts of Haj Qasem. After a long time, I saw the dream of the Commander of Hearts and I hope that God will help me to return to my normal routine with the prayers of Haj Qasem.

He stated: In this regard, athletes are not advised because they always stick to their ideals and will definitely not recognize the representative of the child-killing regime in various competitions.