Families of Iran stars threatened with 'violence'

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The families of Iran's World Cup squad person been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players neglect to "behave" up of the lucifer against the USA connected Wednesday greeting AEDT, a root progressive successful the information of the games said.

Following the refusal of Iranian players to sing the nation's nationalist anthem in their World Cup opener against England, the root said that the players were called to a gathering with members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The root said that they were told that their families would look "violence and and torture" if they did not sing the nationalist anthem oregon if they joined immoderate governmental protestation against the Tehran regime.

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The players sang the anthem earlier their 2nd crippled against Wales connected Saturday, which saw a 2-0 triumph for Iran.

The source, who is intimately monitoring Iran's information agencies operating successful Qatar implicit the World Cup period, said that dozens of officers from the IRGC had been drafted successful to show the Iranian players who are not allowed to mingle extracurricular the squad oregon conscionable with foreigners.

"There are a ample fig of Iranian information officers successful Qatar collecting accusation and monitoring the players," the root said.

Carlos Queiroz, the Portuguese manager of Iran's nationalist team, met separately with IRGC officers pursuing their threats to Iranian players and their families, the root said.

The root did not accidental what the contented of that alleged speech had been. Queiroz has said Iranian players tin protestation astatine the World Cup, but lone wrong FIFA regulations.

The players, the root said, had been promised "presents and cars" up of the England crippled but the regime, the root alleged, had switched to threatening players and their families aft the humiliation of the team's refusal to sing their nationalist anthem.

"In the past crippled against Wales, the authorities sent implicit hundreds of these histrion supporters successful bid to make a mendacious consciousness of enactment and favour amongst the fans. For the adjacent crippled against the US, the authorities is readying to importantly summation the fig of actors into the thousands," the root said.

Iran is appearing astatine this World Cup nether the shadiness of home turmoil. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief, Volker Turk, has said that the state is successful a "full-fledged quality rights crisis" arsenic authorities clamp down connected anti-regime dissidents.

Protests, referred to by experts arsenic the astir important since the constitution of clerical regularisation pursuing the 1979 Iranian Revolution, person rocked Iran successful caller months and threatened the country's regime, which has been successful powerfulness for much than 40 years.

The question was sparked by the decease of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old pistillate who died aft being detained by Iran's morality police, allegedly for not abiding by the country's blimpish formal code. Iranian information forces person unleashed a convulsive response.

On Sunday, Iran authorities media called for the US to beryllium kicked retired of the 2022 World Cup aft the United States Soccer Federation changed Iran's emblem connected its societal media platforms to amusement enactment for protesters successful Iran.

The federation had temporarily displayed Iran's nationalist emblem connected its authoritative Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts without the emblem of the Islamic Republic. A now-deleted graphic of the Group B standings posted connected Saturday displayed the Iranian emblem lone bearing its green, achromatic and reddish colours.

US Soccer told CNN connected Monday that it wanted to alteration the authoritative emblem for 24 hours to amusement "support for the women successful Iran warring for basal quality rights" but ever planned to spell backmost to the archetypal flag.

The alteration "was a one-time graphic," US Soccer told CNN. "We person the main emblem connected our website and different places." The emblem is presently backmost connected the emblem connected US Soccer's societal media channels.

A spokesperson for the State Department told CNN it did not coordinate with US Soccer successful the sporting body's determination to alteration Iran's emblem connected its societal media accounts to amusement enactment for protesters successful Iran.

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