Iranian security forces have shot dead a protester celebrating the country’s national team’s elimination from the World Cup in Qatar, the BBC reported.
Last night, Iran lost to the United States 0-1 in the final match of the group stage of the tournament. A draw was enough for the team to advance.
Activists said Mehran Samak was shot in the head as he sounded his horn last night in the northern Iranian city of Bandar Azali on the Caspian Sea.
Videos posted on social media showed crowds celebrating the national team’s elimination from the World Cup and elsewhere in Iran. The people, apparently anti-government protesters, cheer and dance.
Many Iranians did not support their country’s national team at the World Cup, claiming it represented the Islamic Republic, the BBC noted.
State media accused “hostile forces” inside and outside Iran of exerting unfair pressure on players of the national team, which had a real chance of qualifying for the round of 16 after beating Wales 2-0 in the his second match of the group stage.
The Islamic Republic has been hit by 10 weeks of unrest since the death of 22-year-old ethnic Kurdish Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by morality police in the capital Tehran for improperly wearing a hijab. According to human rights activists, at least 448 people, including 60 children, have been killed since the protests began and more than 18,000 people have been arrested, reports the BBC.
The French ambassador to Iran, Nicolas Roche, meanwhile, was summoned today to the foreign ministry after the French National Assembly unanimously approved a resolution on Monday “in support of the Iranian people”. At the meeting, Iran “strongly protested against the unfounded accusations” of the French authorities and condemned “the unacceptable intervention of this country”, reported the state news agency IRNA, quoted by France Press.
