A prominent former Iran national football player and coach has called on authorities to remain “silent” following the death of a man who celebrated Iran’s victory over the United States earlier this week.
Mohammad Ahmedzad, who played for Iran from 1988 to 1990 and later coached Marawan FC, asked in a video shared online: “Is it okay to honk or be happy?” A crime punishable by death?”
Mehran Samak, 27, was shot by security agents in Bandar Anzali on Tuesday night as he was out celebrating in Bandar Anzali, according to Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based human rights group. middle head.
The IHR said it corroborated this information with “several independent sources.” CNN could not independently verify because the Iranian government does not allow foreign media access to the country and has been opaque in its coverage of the protests and protest casualties.
In a video seen by pro-reform news outlet IranWire and shared on social media on Saturday, Ahmadzadeh directly appealed to local Bandar Anzali councilors, reformist Ahmad Donyamali and the city government to be held accountable.
Ahmadzad said in the video: “We have lost another young man, Mehran Samak, we have lost all our fellow Anzali who have lost loved ones. We have lost this dear one, all the people of Anzali have lost loved ones. ”
He continued:
“I don’t know what crime they committed. I want to ask the authorities in the city — ‘What crime did they commit? Is honking or being happy for any reason a crime punishable by death? I Wanted to ask Mr Donyamali, who considers himself the representative of the city – “Why are you silent? Are you not a representative of this city? How have you reacted to these events so far? ‘”
Some background: Tuesday’s loss to the United States sparked public celebrations by anti-government protesters who have been demonstrating on the streets of Iran for months.
The protests were fatally suppressed by the authorities.
The nationwide uprising was first ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in mid-September after being detained by the country’s morality police. Since then, protesters across Iran have coalesced over a range of grievances against the regime.