Tag: ir iran

[ad_1] The Iran team at the FIFA World Cup.© AFPIran's players did not sing their national anthem before their first game of the World Cup against England on Monday, in apparent support for anti-government protesters in their homeland. Ahead of the game in Qatar, captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said the team would decide together whether or not to refuse to sing the anthem in a show of solidarity for demonstrations that have rocked the regime in Iran. The Iranian players stood impassively and grim-faced as their anthem rang out around the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.Iran has been shaken by two months of nationwide protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in morality police custody on September 16. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died three days after her ...

[ad_1] Iran captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said on Thursday his team was focused on the competition at the World Cup and not on anti-government protests that have gripped his country. Iranians have taken to the streets since September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested for allegedly flouting the strict dress code for women. Jahanbakhsh, who used to play for Premier League club Brighton, was asked by a British journalist at a press conference in Doha if the team was able to concentrate on their opening World Cup match against England on Monday."To be honest I'm not sure if England wasn't in our group you would have come with this question," Jahanbaksh replied in English."Secondly we've been facing this a couple of weeks now with all the English media -- thi...

[ad_1] Rights group Open Stadiums have called on FIFA to throw Iran out of the World Cup finals in Qatar in November because of the country's treatment of women. In a letter sent to FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday, the organisation said Iranian authorities continued to refuse to allow female fans access to games inside the country despite pressure from the game's governing body. "The Iranian FA is not only an accomplice of the crimes of the regime. It is a direct threat to the security of female fans in Iran and wherever our national team plays in the world. Football should be a safe space for us all," the letter said."That is why, as Iranian football fans, it is with an extremely heavy heart that we have to raise our deepest concern about Iran's participation in the upcoming...