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Reluctantly, silently and eyes on the ground, the Iranian players move their lips to the national anthem before the game against Wales. The fans in the audience burst into tears at the same time – some of them booed their team.

Days before, when the Iranian national anthem was played in the opening game against England, complete silence reigned. None of the Iranian players sang along.

It was a silent protest on the world stage against the regime of the mullahs. A dangerous act that is likely to have consequences.

According to Islam experts, the players face dire consequences once they return to Iran. Iran’s state broadcaster tried to obscure the players’ silence by censoring the live broadcast.

When the first notes of the national anthem sounded in the second game, many looked at the Iranian team.

But even more eyes were drawn to the two goals Iran scored – and caused even more emotion.

The eleven won – under enormous political pressure.

Some fans, who were reportedly not allowed into the stadium or even escorted because they wanted to show solidarity with the people of Iran with T-shirts or flags, remained hidden from view. That shirts with the revolutionary slogan “Woman Live Freedom” and old Iranian flags from the time of the Islamic revolution have no place in Qatar, is also apparent from an interview with the Iranian football expert Marzieh Nasiri in the Tagesanzeiger.

Statements of support in Qatar

Nevertheless, some fans managed to express their solidarity with the demonstrators in Iran. A woman painted red tears under her eyes and held a sweater belonging to the late 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who sparked protests in Iran.

She was not the only woman to show her “sisters” protesting in Iran.

But also outside the stadium people are trying to draw attention to the situation in Iran. They use the sporting event of the year to give Iranians a voice: “We will use every platform we can get to address the issue. It may not directly help the people of Iran, but it helps show the world what is happening there,” Mahmoud Izadi, one of the protest organizers, told Al Jazeera in Qatar’s capital Doha.

He further says:

First football player arrested

He was once one of the best full-backs in Iran: Voria Ghafouri. He has been critical of the Islamic system for years. This is also the reason why he can no longer play in the national team. What happened to him now could also threaten the entire Iran national team: he was arrested by the authorities for allegedly taking part in protests against the regime.

One of many

Ghafouri is one of thousands believed to be in police custody in Iran. One of thousands who don’t know what the next day will bring. According to media reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has used excessive force, denied medical care, tortured, raped and carried out extrajudicial killings to intimidate people and quell protests in the country.

At least 430 people, including 55 children, have been killed in Iran since the protests began, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

tactics

To avoid accountability for human rights violations, officials reportedly gave false causes of death, such as suicide or drug overdose.

Human rights violations are being investigated

As with the protests, the call for support is not abating.

The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today voted on whether to investigate the actions of Iran’s leaders against the protest movement. The resolution tabled by Germany and Iceland was adopted today. Experts should now collect evidence and document human rights violations in order to one day hold those responsible accountable.

Iran is unlikely to allow independent human rights experts into the country. The investigation begins with testimonials from refugees and eyewitnesses.

Iranian response

And how will Iran react? Iran’s foreign ministry said on its website: “It is unfortunate that the UN Human Rights Council has been deployed by some Western countries to carry out this anti-Iranian initiative.”