The World Cup game between the U.S. and Iran served as a spotlight on the human rights protest movement sweeping through Iran.
As the world watched the match-up between the U.S. and Iran, San Jose residents Mehdi Mirabian and Karina Mann hoped to draw attention for what is happening off the field — not just on it.
Mirabian is an Iranian-American activist who traveled from the Bay Area to the World Cup in Qatar with the hopes of bringing awareness to the human rights issues in Iran. He’s been among many in the stands who have worn “Free Iran” shirts, waved flags saying “Women Life Freedom” and held up images of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old who allegedly died in police custody in Iran for violating the country’s hijab laws.
He said he and his fellow demonstrators have had several of those items confiscated by security.
“Things have become pretty hot out here, and I don’t mean the actual temperature,” Mirabiran told ABC7 News before the game between the U.S. and Iran.
“A lot of security guards were either confiscating flags and things at the security checkpoints, or they would make their ways into the crowds after they had been informed by supporters of the regime as to where protesters may be standing,” his girlfriend Karina Mann added.
