The Iranian state TV had interrupted the live broadcast at the anthem. The players of the national team face consequences. There had already been speculation in Iran that they could be banned if they remained silent during the national anthem.
Iranian captain Ehsan Hajsafi on Sunday expressed his condolences to the grieving families of the victims in Iran. The team has to accept that the conditions in the country are not good and the people are not happy. The players are aware of that.
Different opinions
Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi said before the tournament that the team in Qatar did not want to be influenced by the protests at home. “We also have other responsibilities to Iranian society, but here our focus is on football,” he said.
Silence during the anthem
Iran national team players apparently refused to sing the anthem. The gesture was interpreted as support for the protests in her homeland.
A few Iranian fans also expressed their solidarity with the protests in their home country. Ahead of the game against England, fans could be seen wearing Iranian jerseys and the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”.
Two well-known actresses in custody
Meanwhile, two well-known actresses have been arrested for their support of the protests, along with hundreds of other opponents of the government, and others have received summonses from the authorities. Actresses Hengameh Ghasiani and Katajun Riahi were taken into custody after removing their headscarves in public, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
The 52-year-old Ghasiani, a vehement critic of the authorities’ crackdown on the demonstrations, published a video on Instagram on Saturday in which she took off her headscarf. “Maybe this will be my last post,” she wrote. “Whatever happens to me, you should know that I will stand by the Iranian people until my last breath.” Last week she called the Iranian government a “child killer” and accused them of “murdering” more than 50 children ” to have.
According to the state news agency IRNA, Ghasiani was arrested for inciting and supporting “riots” and for contact with opposition media. Riahi had also shown solidarity with the protest movement. In September she gave an interview to the London-based TV channel Iran International, during which she did not wear a headscarf.
More celebrities subpoenaed
According to the Iranian judiciary, seven other celebrities from film, sports and politics were also summoned by the public prosecutor. Among them is Jahja Golmohammadi, coach of Tehran football club Persepolis FC. He had criticized the players of the Iran national team for “not bringing the voice of the oppressed people to the authorities”. It is estimated that at least 400 people have been killed in the nationwide protests in Iran, and more than 15,000 are said to have been arrested.
The sixth death sentence
Meanwhile, another man has been sentenced to death in connection with the protests. Tehran’s Revolutionary Court found him guilty of “pulling a knife during the recent unrest with intent to kill, spread terror and unsettle society,” Iran’s judicial authority said on its website Misan Online on Sunday .
It is the sixth death sentence imposed in connection with the demonstrations. Iran has been rocked by protests since the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16. The 22-year-old was arrested by the religious police because she is said to have worn her headscarf improperly. She died a short time later in hospital. Activists accuse the police of abusing Amini.
The Iranian authorities have labeled most of the protesters as “rioters” who are being exploited by foreign powers and are cracking down on the protests with all their might.
Reports of shots being fired at demonstrators
In the meantime, according to eyewitnesses, protests in Mahabad in the Kurdish north-west of the country have escalated into violence. Police and security forces are said to have marched into the city with tanks on Saturday evening and shot at demonstrators indiscriminately. The electricity in the city was also switched off for a short time. The situation had escalated – numerous residents were injured, as eyewitnesses reported.
It is unclear whether there were any deaths. The accounts could not be independently verified. The pro-government news agency Tasnim presented the situation differently: On Sunday night, “armed terrorists” set fire to private houses and public facilities and caused the entire city and its residents to panic. However, several leaders of the “terrorist groups” could have been convicted and imprisoned, the Tasnim report said, citing local security officials.
strikes against police violence
Videos shared thousands of times on social networks showed military convoys driving through the streets. The location and time of the recordings could not be independently verified. The Oslo-based human rights organization Hengaw, citing eyewitnesses, reported helicopters circling over the sky of the Kurdish-Iranian city.
In footage previously released by activists, protesters in Mahabad can be seen sitting in the streets and erecting barricades, including after the funerals of slain protesters. Business owners across the region would go on strike Sunday to protest police violence, Hengaw said.
On Sunday, Hengaw also expressed concern about the situation in other Kurdish-majority cities, including Bukan and Sakes. The protests there had recently increased. Sakes is the hometown of Amini.
