Powerful moment Iran World Cup team refuse to sing their national anthem amid protests at home

🟢 The Iranian World Cup team has refused to sing their national anthem before their opening game against England in what appears to be an act of defiance and solidarity with anti-regime protesters back home

Iranian fans are understood to have brought the Persian flag to the game in an act of protest against the nation’s theocratic regime

Last week Alireza Jahanbakhsh, a winger on the Iranian football team, refused to confirm whether or not the team would sing the country’s anthem before the match in Doha. Mr Jahanbakhsh said: “You’re asking about national anthem – that’s something that also has to be decided about in the team, which we already talked about and obviously everybody’s talking about.”

The gesture appears to be a gesture of solidarity with protesters across Iran, who have been calling for the downfall of the regime since the death of a young woman at the hands of its morality police on 16 September.

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