In northern Iran, security authorities reportedly killed a man as anti-government protestors celebrated the national football team’s elimination from the World Cup.
Activists said Mehran Samak was shot in the head Tuesday night in Bandar Anzali after sounding his car’s horn.
Videos from other cities depicted jubilantly and dancing crowds in the streets.
Many Iranians declined to support their team in Qatar because they viewed it as a symbol of the Islamic Republic.
Following Iran’s 1-0 loss to the United States in their final group match, state-affiliated media accused hostile forces inside and outside the country of exerting undue pressure on the team.
As an apparent demonstration of solidarity with the protesters, the players did not sing the national anthem before their first game, a 6-2 loss to England.
However, they sang throughout the 2-0 victory over Wales and the politically heated match against the United States.
Some demonstrators interpreted this as a betrayal of their cause, despite claims that the team was subjected to severe pressure from Iranian officials.
The uprising began 10 weeks ago after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman imprisoned by Tehran’s morality police for allegedly breaching the severe laws mandating women to cover their hair with a scarf, died in custody.
Iran Human Rights, a group based in Norway, reports that at least 448 people, including 60 children, have been killed as a result of the government’s brutal response to “riots” they claim were supported by foreign powers. According to reports, almost 18,000 others have been arrested.
Mehran Samak, 27, was reportedly shot and murdered by security officers in the Caspian Sea city of Bandar Anzali on Tuesday night after honking his car horn to celebrate the Iranian football team’s loss.
A video showing the Wednesday morning burial of Mr. Samak. The mourners can be heard saying, “You are the dirt, you are immoral, I am a liberated lady,” a common protest mantra.
The Iranian security forces have denied murdering protestors.
However, the opposition activist collective 1500tasvir posted recordings claiming to show security personnel opening fire on civilians in the city of Behbahan throughout the night and assaulting a woman in Qazvin, located south of Bandar Anzali.
Other footage depicted men and women celebrating the World Cup elimination in Tehran and several places in the primarily Kurdish northwestern region of the country. In recent weeks, security forces reportedly killed dozens of protesters as they tightened their onslaught.
In footage from Mahsa Amini’s hometown of Saqqez, scores of individuals can be seen cheering and waving scarves in a central area before the launching of fireworks.
Crowds were captured dancing to music in Sanandaj, the epicenter of the turmoil, while in Kermanshah and Marivan they could be heard screaming “Woman, life, freedom” – one of the rallies’ most prominent chants.
Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw stated that at least 30 people were shot and injured by security forces in Marivan, Sanandaj, Kermanshah, Saqqez, Ilam, and Bukan as they were celebrating.
In Tehran, students at Imam Sadiq University gathered outside a residential hall and yelled: “Death to the dishonorable” – an epithet protestors have used against security officers and which was shouted by supporters during Iran’s match against England.
After Tuesday’s play, there was also a clash between government opponents and fans outside the Al Thumama Stadium in Qatar.
Rasmus Tantholdt, a Danish journalist, filmed three guys with Iranian flags pushing a man wearing an English T-shirt that read “Woman, life, freedom.” A woman with him is then heard lamenting that she was assaulted and pleading for assistance to exit the stadium safely.
When asked about the treatment of Iranian spectators who organized protests in Qatar, Fifa stated that it continued to “work closely with the host country to guarantee the complete execution of all relevant regulations and protocols.”
Iran’s state-affiliated media praised the national football team despite failing to qualify for the World Cup’s knockout stage.
The conservative Farhikhtegan newspaper stated, “We are proud of Iran,” whilst the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Javan newspaper proclaimed that the squad had “won the actual game: the game of uniting people’s hearts.”
Before the match, the extremist Tasnim news agency refuted a CNN report citing an unnamed security source who said that the Revolutionary Guards had threatened the families of the Iranian players with “imprisonment and torture” if they did not “behave.”
