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Home » international news » Iranian Instagram 'Hulk' Sajad Gharibi all set to smash ISIS to pieces

Iranian Instagram 'Hulk' Sajad Gharibi all set to smash ISIS to pieces

Aleesha Matharu | Updated on: 6 July 2016, 3:26 IST

Iranian Instagram Hulk Sajad Gharibi all set to sm

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Larger-than-life Iranian will turn his hand to fighting as he volunteers to take on ISIS

The 'Persian Hercules' wants to battle the extremists in their self-declared caliphate

Sajad Gharibi can lift up to 175 kg - the weight as two baby elephants.

But that shouldn't be surprising considering he weighs close to 158 kg. And the fact that most of that is just pure muscle.

Known as the 'Persian Hercules' or 'Hulk' online, the 24-year-old Instagram celebrity who has more than 129,000 followers, hit internet virality last month. He has now decided to throw his full, impressive weight in the fight against ISIS.

Also read - 'We Will Hunt You Down'. #Anonymous declares 'war' on ISIS

His plan, as a volunteer soldier with the Iranian military, is to head to the terror group's self-declared caliphate and do some real damage.

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 [APP/Controller/MediaParserController.php, line 218]Code Context            $instagramURL = urldecode($this->request->data('instagram_url'));

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	(int) 10 => 'Connection: close',
	(int) 11 => 'Content-Length: 14'
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 [APP/Controller/MediaParserController.php, line 218]Code Context            $instagramURL = urldecode($this->request->data('instagram_url'));

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$instagramURL = 'https://www.instagram.com/p/BFub4lWDpiy/'
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App\Controller\MediaParserController::getInstagramWidget() - APP/Controller/MediaParserController.php, line 218
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Which I'm sure most of us would imagine he would - the enormous man takes part in the powerlifting category of competitions around the world and has also participated in bodybuilding competitions representing his country.

On his profile page Gharibi, a devout Muslim, says: "Calming the heart and the life I have faith in God and is infallible Imams" and has said that he wants to "defend Shia Muslim shrines in Syria against IS attackers".

According to 9 News, Gharibi has previously been confused for the infamous ISIS executioner known as 'The Bulldozer'. The large jihadist has been seen in numerous IS videos beheading captives and carrying anti-aircraft artillery.

In fact, he's had to personally push aside rumours he was fridge-raiding The Bulldozer.

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 [APP/Controller/MediaParserController.php, line 218]Code Context            $instagramURL = urldecode($this->request->data('instagram_url'));

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$instagramAPI = 'https://api.instagram.com/oembed/?url='
$instagramURL = 'https://www.instagram.com/p/BEbt4qFDpi6/'
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	(int) 10 => 'Connection: close',
	(int) 11 => 'Content-Length: 14'
]
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Gentle giant

On his Instagram account, he writes in Persian but also uses English hashtags such as #strongman #strongbody #big #mucsles and #powerful.

Gharibi also loves to take pictures with objects that look smaller when held next to him.

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	(int) 6 => 'Vary: Cookie, Accept-Language',
	(int) 7 => 'Expires: Sat, 01 Jan 2000 00:00:00 GMT',
	(int) 8 => 'Set-Cookie: mid=WI0P1gAEAAGhVgzc4ezBw-LrAo5t; expires=Fri, 23-Jan-2037 21:40:38 GMT; Max-Age=630720000; Path=/',
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	(int) 10 => 'Connection: close',
	(int) 11 => 'Content-Length: 14'
]
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We've gotten familiar with this 'man mountain' physique thanks to Hafthor Bjornsson of Iceland who plays The Mountain/Gregor Clegane/Frankenmountain on HBO's Game of Thrones.

VICE did fabulous documentary on the tradition of Iceland's strongman scene. They visited the infamous 'Jakabol' (Nest of Giants) gym which is run by the legendary Magnus Ver Magnusson and interview big names like Hafthor Bjornsson and Pall Logason.

The video also outlines many of the challenges such strong men face after pushing their bodies so hard for years. Some of it doesn't bode well for Gharibi and his fight against ISIS because it's been documented time and again that muscles don't mean everything in a fight overtime.

'Persian Hercules' Sajad Gharibi will give the Iranian army some extra muscle on the battlefield

The fact that he's been called "a gentle giant" should also make people fear for him. Because despite his enormousness, "those who know him assure that despite his grizzly appearance, Sajad has a big heart and is a gentle giant," wrote The Mirror.

So let's hope, particularly for his sake, that the members of ISIS take one look at him and run off trembling with fear. Because Gharibi certainly looks like a guy you'll want on your side in a fight.

More in Catch - Brits using Bollywood songs to annoy ISIS. Here's a playlist to help!

Inside ISIS' looted antiquities trade

First published: 6 July 2016, 3:26 IST

Persian Hercules ISIS bodybuilding Sajad Gharibi terror Hulk Iran military Syria Hafthor Bjornsson Strong men of Iceland Game of Thrones

Aleesha Matharu @almatharu

Born in Bihar, raised in Delhi and schooled in Dehradun, Aleesha writes on a range of subjects and worked at The Indian Express before joining Catch as a sub-editor. When not at work you can find her glued to the TV, trying to clear a backlog of shows, or reading her Kindle. Raised on a diet of rock 'n' roll, she's hit occasionally by wanderlust. After an eight-year stint at Welham Girls' School, Delhi University turned out to be an exercise in youthful rebellion before she finally trudged her way to J-school and got the best all-round student award. Now she takes each day as it comes, but isn't an eternal optimist.