Iran and Qatar have joined forces to squash protests in the latter nation against the Islamic regime in Tehran during the FIFA World Cup.
“The World Cup has helped put Iran’s brutality on a world stage. Tehran exported its repression to Qatar to prevent the tournament from giving visibility to protesters. Tehran’s suppression of dissident soccer fans further demonstrates that Iranians need a different government,” said David May, research manager at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
Following the U.S.-Iran match on Nov. 29, security officers at the World Cup pinned and detained a spectator chanting, “Women, life, freedom” in solidarity with the Iranian protest movement. In addition, pro-regime Iranians and local stadium security seized items such as shirts and flags from fans expressing solidarity with protesters in Iran.
In Iran, security forces killed a 27-year-old celebrating his country’s 1-0 loss to the United States. Security forces in several cities opened fire on Iranians rejoicing in their national team’s defeat.