State Dept Voices Support for Iranian Athletes Ahead of World Cup Showdown With USA

National Security

Iranian soccer players protested regime during team’s first match

Iranian players refuse to sing their national anthem at the World Cup / Reuters Adam Kredo • November 28, 2022 2:50 pm

Editor’s Note: The Washington Free Beacon‘s decision to report on the World Cup does not in any way constitute an endorsement of soccer, a fundamentally evil and anti-American enterprise. 

Ahead of the United States’ World Cup match on Tuesday against Iran, the State Department is expressing solidarity with Iranian players who made waves on the international stage when they refused to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem.

The State Department told the Washington Free Beacon that it stands shoulder to shoulder with the Iranian athletes who during their match against England refused to sing as Iran’s national anthem played, signaling their support for anti-regime protesters who have been rallying against the hardline government for the past two months. The State Department said it will be monitoring Iran in the coming weeks following the regime’s threats to discipline the players. The Iranian government’s intimidation tactics—which could include severe punishment once the players return home—appeared to have weighed on the athletes, who “half-heartedly” sang their national anthem prior to the nation’s most recent game against Wales.

“Iran’s leadership should be heeding their athletes’ calls for change, rather than stifling them through intimidation and threats,” the State Department official said. “The people of Iran and the nations of the world will be watching the athletes’ treatment upon their return to Iran. If Iranian authorities deny the athletes their fundamental rights, it will only serve to further isolate Iran from the world.”

The World Cup has emerged as a flashpoint in the Iranian government’s relations with the West and particularly with the United States, which has used the tournament’s popularity to draw attention to Tehran’s human rights abuses. Iran is calling for the United States to be booted from the competition after the U.S. Soccer Federation altered pictures of the Islamic Republic’s flag to express solidarity with protesters. The graphic, which was subsequently deleted, showed Iran’s flag without the Islamic Republic’s official symbol. A U.S. Soccer Federation source told CNN that change was deliberate and meant to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.”

The State Department said it sees Iran’s response to these protests as a signal the regime is “continuing a

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