A football fan was allegedly shot dead by Islamic regime security forces last night after celebrating Iran’s defeat by the United States at the World Cup.
Mehran Samak, 27, was reportedly shot in the head by government agents in the eastern Iran city of Anzali after he blew his car horn to celebrate the Iran national team’s 1-0 defeat.
Samak was in his car next to his fiancé when a member of the Iranian security forces approached her car and shot the football fan in the head, Iran International reports. He was taken to the hospital but died within an hour.
Samak had joined dozens of other Iranians across the country in celebrating the national team’s defeat to the United States amid growing anger at the Islamic regime.
Mehran Samak, 27, was reportedly shot in the head by government agents in the eastern Iran city of Anzali after he blew his car horn to celebrate the Iran national team’s 1-0 defeat
In the Kurdish region of Iran, soccer fans set off fireworks and honked car horns early Wednesday to celebrate the Iranian team’s defeat
Many saw the match’s outcome as a win over the Iranian government, which has cracked down on nationwide protests that have been engulfing the Islamic Republic for months.
In the Kurdish region of Iran, soccer fans set off fireworks and honked car horns early Wednesday to celebrate the Iranian team’s defeat.
Some shouted “Death to the dictator,” a popular protest slogan referring to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The country’s western Kurdish region saw particularly intense protests and a deadly security force crackdown that left at least 300 people dead.
The protests first erupted in September after a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the custody of Iran’s Morality Police in the capital, Tehran.
Antonee Robinson of the USA hugs Ramin Rezaeian of Iran after the Iran national team lost their World Cup match 1-0 on Tuesday night
The 22-year-old died three days after her arrest in Tehran for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code for women.
The protests quickly turned into the most serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since its inception in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iranian authorities have blamed foreign actors, mainly the US, for orchestrating the protest movement, but have not provided any evidence.
The Iranian national team lost 1-0 to the USA on Tuesday evening. The Iranian players carefully sang their national anthem before the game after being warned by officials in Tehran that they would face retribution for their “insulting” decision not to sing it ahead of the game against England.
An Iranian politician warned they could be fined if they don’t start singing the anthem for their last two games against Wales and the United States.
They sang the anthem before the game against Wales but stood stone-faced as the anthem was played at the Khalifa International Stadium last Monday ahead of their 6-2 defeat by England at the World Cup.
It was seen as a show of solidarity with the protests currently engulfing Iran following the death of Amini.
Iranian supporters display a sign with the name of Mahsa Amini, the name of the girl whose death sparked protests in Iran earlier this year, during the Group B match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup between Iran and the United States on Tuesday night
Meanwhile, unrest erupted in the Kurdish-majority areas of Iran amid nationwide anti-government protests. The national team’s defeat by the United States was seen by some as a victory against what they see as government oppression.
Even in areas of Tehran, some chanted protest slogans after the US victory.
Videos published online showed cars on the streets of Saqqez, the capital of Kurdistan Province, and the hometown of Mahsa Amini. The young woman died in police custody in September.
Last week, Iranian security forces arrested former international soccer player Voria Ghafouri for criticizing the government’s crackdown on protests that have engulfed the Islamic Republic for months.
Ghafouri, who was dropped from the Iran national team ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, was arrested after a training session with his local club Foolad Khuzestan in Iran.
The 35-year-old was arrested on charges of “damaging the national team’s reputation and spreading anti-state propaganda”.
Ghafouri has also been accused of supporting “rioters,” a term used by the Islamic State to refer to the anti-government protesters who demonstrated after Amini’s death.
Ghafouri, who also belongs to Iran’s Kurdish minority, has been a vocal critic of the Islamic regime and its violent crackdown on the protests.