Iranian Americans are torn over Iran’s participation in the World Cup, as some community members plan to watch Monday’s match and others plan to protest outside the stadium where the team will play.
A rally is planned for outside the stadium near Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran. Many of Southern California’s Iranian Americans arrived after the Islamic Revolution, and a hub of eateries, shops and markets about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the stadium is known as “Tehrangeles.”
Rally participants plan to wear lion-and-sun T-shirts and wave the country’s flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in protest of Tehran’s deadly January crackdown on dissent.
Ali Javahery, a 59-year-old consultant who was born in Iran and lives in California’s Orange County, said he will be outside protesting Iran’s opening match against New Zealand, not inside watching it. He said soccer and politics are intertwined, and though he loves the sport, he says the national team’s players are under pressure to adhere to the Iranian government’s positions.
“This is not ‘Team Melli,’” as the national team is known in Persian, Javahery said. “This is Team Islamic Republic.”
Iran’s participation in the tournament has been fraught with conflict because of the country’s war with U.S. and Israeli forces. The team moved its training base to Mexico from Tucson, Arizona, and some of the country’s key soccer officials had not been granted visas to enter the United States. Many in the diaspora have mixed feelings over how to show their support of the Iranian people, but not the government, through their love of soccer.
