Bermuda Post

Friday, Mar 29, 2024

‘Say her name, Mahsa Amini’: Iran protests arrive at World Cup

‘Say her name, Mahsa Amini’: Iran protests arrive at World Cup

Iran football fans use the Iran-England match to raise their voices in support of those protesting in their country.

Chants of “Say her name, Mahsa Amini,” reverberated among protesters outside Khalifa International Stadium ahead of Iran’s first match of the World Cup 2022 against England.

A few dozen men, women and children were seen on Monday wearing t-shirts saying “Zan, Zindagi, Azadi” (women, life, freedom), a famous chant from the protests in Iran.

Protests have been taking place across Iran since mid-September after the death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Iran’s Kurdistan province. Amini was arrested by the country’s morality police in the capital Tehran for allegedly not adhering to Iran’s dress code for women.

In the past few days, protests have been most intense in northwestern Kurdish-majority provinces, with videos continuing to come out from several cities, including Mahabad, Bukan and Piranshahr in West Azerbaijan and Javanrud in Kermanshah.


The Iran protests in Qatar

“My people in Iran are under a lot of pressure and are being killed by the regime, so we want to use this opportunity to raise a voice for them,” Mahmoud Izadi, one of the protest organisers, told Al Jazeera in Qatar’s capital Doha.

The protests started off with claps and chants of “Iran” but soon turned political as a charged-up crowd started waving banners with Amini’s picture on them.

Dressed all in black to register his protest, Izadi said the demonstrators want the world to pay attention to the situation in Iran and are using the World Cup as a platform because their voices are being crushed in their home country.

Once those protesters went quiet, a group of men in Iran football shirts began shouting in support of the team.

“People who are dancing and cheering for Iran have been sent here by the regime to paint a different picture,” Izadi said, adding that he was not there to support the team “because they are not supporting our people”.

Fans gather outside Khalifa International Stadium


The most vocal protesters seem to be those who have travelled to Qatar from places other than Iran.

Others, who seemed to be based in Iran or will travel there, were simply clapping from the sidelines and steered away from any attention.

A few families and women turned down requests for a comment, saying they wanted to stay away from trouble back home.

Hasti, an Iranian-born American here to watch Iran’s matches, said she does not think a sports tournament is necessarily the best place to register a protest but there are not many options left for the people of her country.

“We are going to use whatever platform we can get to raise the issue and this may not help the people in Iran directly but it will help show the world what’s happening there.”




Amidst the chants, a group of people held up a poster of former Iran footballer Ali Karimi who has been supporting the protests.

Karimi left the country soon after the protests broke out in Iran.

“The regime was after his life and he has been on the run since then,” said Izadi.

Abi Shams, donning a green t-shirt that says “Help free Iran,” has flown in from the US and says his choice of outfit is aimed at attracting attention.

“What we have in Iran is a dictatorship and we, the protesters, are the voice of the Iranian people,” he said.

As the crowd built up outside the stadium entrance, people started making their way through the turnstiles. The protesters, however, stayed behind for one last round of chanting and clapping and say they do not plan on stopping anytime soon.

“We have reached a point of no return and will no longer be suppressed by the regime,” said Izadi, before joining a chant of “zan, zindagi, azadi”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×