A security forces shot and killed an Iranian citizen afer Iran’s national team lost to the US and was out from the World Cup. Anti-government protests were taking place inside and outside the stadium in Qatar as well as throughout Iran.
Human rights campaigners claim that Mehran Samak, 27, was shot dead after honking his car horn in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea coast north of Tehran.
Samak “was targeted directly and shot in the head by security forces … following the defeat of the national team against America”, said the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR).
The fight between the two nations, which cut diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago, took place against a backdrop of deadly repression in Iran following protests sparked by Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, who died in detention in September, who had been the target of those protests.
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More than 448 killed
According to IHR, the security forces in Iran have killed at least 448 people during their repression of the protests, including 60 minors under the age of 18 and 29 women.
In an extraordinary turn of events, Iranian international midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi, who represented Iran against the United States and is from Bandar Anzali, claimed that he knew Samak and shared a photo of the two of them playing childhood football.
“After last night’s bitter loss, the news of your passing set fire to my heart,” said Ezatolahi on Instagram, describing Samak as a “childhood teammate”.
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