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Tuesday’s World Cup match between Iran and the U.S. is going to be widely watched not only for its tournament implications. The game will also serve as a spotlight on the massive human rights protest movement that has swept across Iran this fall.
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets since the September death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody, in what has become perhaps the biggest challenge to the authoritarian regime that has ruled the country since 1979’s Islamic Revolution.
And some Iranian fans hope a victory against the U.S. on Tuesday could generate even more enthusiasm for the anti-government movement.
„I believe that every international event, especially on the scale of the World Cup, is an opportunity to be seen and heard, both to the spectators present in the stadium in Qatar and on the streets of Iran after the match,“ said Touraj, an Iranian fan from the northern city of Rasht, who declined to use his full name out of fear of retribution by the government.
Read on for more about the Iranian protests and how Iran’s team has handled questions about the human rights situation in their home country. What is the Iranian protest movement about?
The protests were sparked by the September death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in the custody of the country’s morality police after they arrested her for what they considered inappropriate dress. Amini was Kurdish, a marginalized minority group in Iran, and was known to friends and family by her Kurdish name, Jina.
Since September, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have participated in the protests. And the demonstrations have grown beyond calls for greater freedom for women; now, many protesters are demanding regime change.
„I want a future. I want happiness. I want a good life. I want a good home, good car, good – I don’t know – husband, maybe. I cannot have [a] better future in this country in this situation,“ a 19-year-old Iranian student told NPR this month. She asked to remain anonymous out of fear for her safety.
„This is a very clear message from people in Iran. This is why many Iranians prefer to call these protests a revolution, because for them, the Islamic Republic has no credibility,“ Asieh Amini, an Iranian poet and activist who lives in exile in Norway, said in an interview with NPR. How has the Iranian government responded?
Iranian leaders condemn the protests as riots, noting police stations have been burned and police killed. They’ve claimed the protesters are stirred up by the U.S., or Israel, or by Kurdish groups in neighboring countries.
The government has also tried to end the protests using force.
At least 450 protesters have been killed since mid-September, according to an advocacy group tracking the crackdown called Human Rights Activists in Iran.
