Iranians lost to the United States national football team in the ongoing World Cup in Qatar. Some experts claim that Iranians are facing retributions after the US defeated them.
The New York Post has the details;
Iran’s national soccer team faces retribution in the Islamic Republic after coming up short in Tuesday’s showdown against the United States, experts told The Post.
Mike Baker, a former CIA covert operations officer, said the Iranian players are stuck in an “untenable position” after their much-hyped match against the United States, which defeated Iran 1-0 to advance to the knockout round of 16.
“Given what we’ve seen from the Iranian regime … they’ve shown themselves to be brutal and there’s no reason to believe they’re going to suddenly become rational,” Baker said.
In their opening match against England last week, Iran’s players declined to sing their national anthem in an apparent protest over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly beaten in police custody for failing to properly wear a hijab in September.
And although Iran’s players sang their national anthem Tuesday, a win against the US would have helped ease their prior transgression, Baker said.
“The regime would have used them for their own purposes,” Baker told The Post. “They would have spent all the focus on the victory, defeating ‘The Great Satan’ or whatever clever phrases they come up with.”
On Monday, CNN reported that families of the Iranian team were threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players failed to “behave” before their match against the US. Iranian players were forced to meet with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps after demonstrating before the England game, the report added.
Elnaz Rekavi, an Iranian rock climber, is reportedly under house arrest in her home country for competing abroad in October without a mandatory hijab — which many perceived as a gesture of support for Amini. Rekabi, 33, was threatened with the seizure of her family’s property unless she made a “forced apology,” according to reports.
Now, the Iranian team could face fines or even arrest in the wake of Tuesday’s defeat once they arrive home — as retaliation for their disloyalty and their failure to beat the enemy, Baker said.
“Neither is good if you’re an Iranian player upon returning home,” he added.
Hey, Iranians, this is just a game and shouldn’t end in the families of the team getting punished for no wrongdoing…
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