Arresting a member of its national soccer team, not picked for the World Cup team, Iran continued its crack down on protests for the Sept. 16 beating death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini by the Basij militia for not wearing her head scarf correctly. Three months later, Iranian have not accepted a repressive Mullah government of 83-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for its brutal crackdown to nationwide protest. Khamenei with his Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia have killed 442 protester and arrested 18,000 in protests over Amimi’s death. Iran’s semiofficials Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Voria Ghafouri, a member of Iran’s National Team, was arrested for criticizing the Mulllah government. While not confirmed, Ghafouri was blocked from going to Qatar for the World Cup because of his political activism, now responsible for his arrest.
Ghafouri protested the ban on women attending mens soccer matches, also weighing in a Iran’s confrontational foreign policy leaving Iran reeling from U.S. and EU sanctions. Ghafouri’s arrest came right before Iran lost the U.K. [6-2], a blowout by World Cup standards, because many matches are played to zero-to-zero. Members of Iran’s team refused to sing along with Iran’s national anthem, with some fans expressing support for protests over Amini’s death. Iran’s Mullah government, inherited from Ayatollah’s Ruhollah Khomenei’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, continues its crackdown on protesters looking for an end to Mullah rule. Gafouri called out Iran’s rulers for its brutal crackdown in Iran’s Western Kurdistan region, both home to Gafouri and the late Amini. Kurds attempt at independence have always drawn a fierce opposition from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Following an end of the Ottoman Empire Nov. 1, 1920, the Treaty of Sevres divided up 500 years of Ottoman land-grabs all over Europe and the Middle East. Only the Kurds were passed over by the Treaty of Severes, leaving them living in the hinterlands of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. Sending the Revolutionary Guards to crackdown in Western Kurdistan upset Gafouri, a Kurd, protested the brutal treatments of his people. Kurds, like Gafouri, one-day hope for a Kurdish homeland, something not obtained in nearly 100 years. When Iraqi Kurds, under U.S. control in 2017, decided to assert their independence the, Iraq military was sent into Erbil to set down the unrest. Since then, Kurdish separatist movements have continued on a low profile, without demanding Kurdish independence. Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, reject Kurdish independence.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards forced Gafouri out from his activism. Gafouri played for Khuzestan Foolad team in Southwestern city of Ahvaz. Knowing that crackdown went deeper, the club’s chairman, Hamidreza Garshabi, was forced to resign Thursday, a sign that the crackdown against Gafouri was more serious. Ayatollah Khamenei and President Raisi show no sign to letting up on the nationwide protests or martyring anyone backing the unrest. Professional sporting events like the World Cup or the Olympics have their share of protests over political issues. What’s going on in Iran has shocked the world, knowing that street protesters are often arrested and never heard from again. Reports of Revolutionary Guards using live ammunition on street protesters, routinely beating activists in the streets are common. Tehran has been embarrassed by Gafouris protests.
U.N’s Human Rights Council voted Thursday to investigate the Ayatollah’s crackdown on protesters in Iranian streets. U.N. officials have no enforcement mechanism even if they determine egregious abuse of human rights. Protesters claim they are fed up with decades of Mullah rule, preventing Iran of entering the 21st Century, something demanded by countries subscribing to the U.N. Charter. Young people want Tehran to end the strict dress code on women. Many of the street protests around Iran are women who want the Basij militia to stop the nationwide harassment on ordinary citizens. Head scarves are not the only thing young women want changed. Young women want to wear makeup or to listen to whatever music they like, not what’s approved by the Mullah government. Qatar’s World Cup is the perfect place for Iran’s to protest the Ayatollah’s brutal rule.
Refusing to sing the national anthem, Iran’s Qatar athletes are bound to deal repercussions once their back in Iran. Iran’s Mullah government doesn’t let go easily, noting every insult by athletes or their team management. Gafouri reminded the world of the mistreatment of Kurds not just in Iran but by Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Iran claims the U.S. CIA influence the revolt of Kurdish group with Southwestern Iran. Ayatollah Khamenei claims the nationwide protests are driven by the United States, in another repeat of the same CIA meddling that brought down the 1954 Mosaddegh government. Ayatollah’s Khomenei’s government frequently cites Mosaddegh to dismiss legitimate protests due to egregious human rights abuses. Qatar’s World Cup has exposed for all to see what it’s like for athletes to live with one of the world’s most brutal regimes, treating humans with no dignity.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of Onlinecolumnist.com and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.
