Iranian activists in Tehran are supporting the US men’s soccer team as the United States and Iran prepare to meet at the World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday.
As deadly protests continue across Iran, activists hope that a loss to Tehran will be a blow to the regime and its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“As an Iranian Kurd, I don’t want the mullah’s team to win,” an activist named Nassaer of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, also known as MEK, told Fox News Digital. “This team does not represent the Iranian people.”
Iranian soccer fans hold signs reading Woman Life Freedom and Freedom For Iran, before the World Cup Group B soccer match between England and Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Monday, November 21, 2022. .
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
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The activist accused the Iranian team of being “anti-human, anti-Iranian and anti-Kurdish” and said it “does not place any value on the Iranian sports community.”
“The slogan of the people these days is ‘death to the dictator,'” he added.
Fox News Digital could not confirm how the Iranian players align politically, though Tuesday’s game drew global attention after months of protests demanding women’s rights.
The Iranian team did not sing the national anthem before their opener against England last week, although they sang together before the game against Wales on Friday.
Reports on Tuesday suggested that the relatives of the Iranian players were threatened if the team once again refused to sing Iran’s national anthem.
Players of the Iran team celebrate at the end of the World Cup Group B soccer match between Wales and Iran, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Friday, November 25, 2022.
(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
The match will mark the first time in nearly 25 years that the United States and Iran have met on the court.
Athletes have long used sporting events to promote social and political issues, including football athletes in recent years calling attention to black rights in the US by taking a knee during the national anthem. , though similar actions by Iranian players could have deadly consequences.
Another activist speaking to Fox News Digital pointed to the last time an Iranian soccer player defied the Khamenei regime, resulting in his subsequent arrest, torture and execution.
“This is the same regime that in 1981 executed Habib Khabiri, the captain of the Iran national soccer team in the 1978 World Cup because he was a supporter of the Mujahideen-e Khalq. [MEK]said an MEK activist named Mahsa.
“The people want to see the defeat of the regime’s team in [the] match because this team does not represent the Iranian people,” he argued. “The regime exploits football and sports to promote its own policies.”
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Millions of fans not only in the US and Iran, but around the world, will be watching Tuesday’s game to see how Iran’s players behave on the pitch, whether they participate in the Iranian national anthem, and how they interact with the usa team
Iranian players pose before the World Cup Group B soccer match between England and Iran at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Monday, November 21, 2022.
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
The 1998 game also followed years of political turmoil between Washington and Tehran in the aftermath of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. However, the players appeared to put politics aside when the Iranian team reportedly gave white roses to the US as a sign of peace.
However, no such peace offer is expected on Tuesday unless the Iranian players deliberately show a break with the regime, which called for the United States to be excluded from the games earlier this week for its support of activists. for women’s rights in Iran.
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The game between the USA and Iran is scheduled for Tuesday at 2 pm EST on FOX.
