Iran Stops Family Of Football Legend From Leaving Country
Category: World News
Iranian football legend Ali Daei says an international flight has been
rerouted to prevent his wife and daughter from leaving the country.
The 53-year-old, who has voiced support for anti-government
protests, said his family had tried to fly from Tehran to Dubai to join him on
holiday on Monday.
But the flight was made to land on an Iranian island in the Gulf and
they were removed.
No reason was given and the pair are returning
to Tehran, Ali Daei added.
The latest protests were triggered by
the death in custody of Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, in September. She had
been held for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly.
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More than 500 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed, while
thousands of others have been arrested, human rights activists say. Dozens of
Iranian security personnel are also reported to have been killed.
Iran’s
state-run news agency Irna said Mr Daei’s wife, Mona Farrokhazari, had pledged
to inform officials before leaving the country, following the couple’s
“association with the groups against the Islamic revolution”.
Irna said their flight had landed at Kish Island and “Ali Daei’s wife and
daughter got off the plane”.
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Mr Daei said the pair “were going to Dubai for a few days trip and back”,
adding: “Had they been banned (from leaving), the passport police system
should have shown it. No-one has given me an answer about this.”
In
a social-media post in September, he urged the government to “solve the
problems of the Iranian people rather than using repression, violence and
arrests”.
READ: 300 People Die in Iran After Drinking Methanol They Thought Could Cure Coronavirus
Earlier in December his jewellery shop and restaurant in Tehran was shut down
by the judiciary.
In addition to arrests, Iranian authorities have
banned several celebrities, artists and prominent figures from leaving the
country following their support for the mass protests.
Ali Daei,
53, is one of Iran’s most famous sports figures. A former captain of the
national football team, he has scored 109 goals at an international level in
the 1990s and early 2000s.
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