Iranian officials ordered a flight to Dubai to land on Monday, barring the family of the outspoken Iranian football icon from leaving the country and accusing them of participating in anti-government protests.
Ali Daei’s wife and daughter were removed from a Mahan Air flight after being ordered to land on the Iranian island of Kish, about 200 kilometers from Dubai in the Persian Gulf, state news agency IRNA reported. The flight started in Tehran.
In response to protests against the country’s hardline leader, the Islamic Republic is expanding a crackdown on dissent that began in mid-September over the custodial death of 22-year-old Masa Amini. She was arrested by Iran’s so-called moral police for violating strict Islamic dress codes.
Daei, who retired from football in 2007, has publicly expressed his support for the protests. I’m here.
IRNA said Daei and his family were involved in “supporting counter-revolutionary groups and mobs and calling for strikes”, adding that Daei’s wife and daughter are free to return to Tehran. Separately, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said Daei’s wife had been barred from leaving the country, but she “voted the ban through illegal channels” and she managed to board the plane. rice field.
Authorities closed the Daei-owned jewelry store and restaurant after a social media post said both facilities would be closed in solidarity during three days of protests and strikes in early December, according to state media. He has previously boycotted the World Cup and stayed home to show solidarity with demonstrators.
Iran has hanged two men this month in connection with protests. Rights groups say more than 400 people have died in the government crackdown on the protests and dozens are at risk of execution.
Iran’s Supreme Court on December 24 upheld a ruling to execute Mohammad Ghobadr, a 22-year-old man accused of running over and killing a police officer in the town of Parand, near Tehran, Tasnim reported. – Bloomberg
