Ali Dey made his work experience public, writing in a sarcastic tone, "Little things like [passport confiscation] have never affected me in the past or the future, and I have nowhere to go anyway."
However, a few days later, the authorities returned his passport. Dey continued to question the authorities on social media, "Unfortunately, I don't understand why they confiscated my passport, and after this series of disrespectful maneuvers, the return of the passport becomes legal and compliant?"
The real disagreement between the population and the authorities centers on the death of Martha Amini.
Numerous Iranians take to the streets to protest the death of Masha Amini
On September 14, Masha Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, was arrested in the street by Pind police for not wearing a hijab, and died two days later in the hospital, after witnesses claimed she had been beaten by police. Despite strong denials by the police, angry Iranians took to the streets in protest, and demonstrations that began on September 16 continue today, spreading throughout Iran.
One of the many voices of support from Iranian celebrities and ordinary people is Dey, who on Sept. 27 spoke out publicly on social media, calling on the government to "deal with the demands of Iranian citizens, not through repression, violence and arrests." Since then, he may have been blacklisted by the authorities.
This list covers a wide range of celebrities.
Homayoun Shajarian, one of Iran's most popular classical Persian music singers, had his passport confiscated when he returned home after displaying a picture of Amini on stage during a tour of Australia in September.
Singer Shervin Hajipour, 25, has composed a song for the public outcry For... One of the lyrics of the song "For women! For life! For freedom!" It quickly became the slogan of the Iranian people's protest. The song quickly received over 34 million plays on Instagram, but was quickly deleted. Police approached Hajipour to ask him to remove the video and held him until Oct. 4, when he was released. Hajipur revealed that he was tricked into saying he was going for a media interview when he was taken away.
Nonetheless, the outcry did not stop. After being warned that actress Hettye Trani, who has an Instagram account with millions of followers and is an Internet celebrity in the focus of the security services, insisted on sharing images in support of the protests, including a quote that reads, "Millions of girls are now Mahsa Amini".
Not only celebrities, but Iranians scattered around the world are expressing their displeasure with their actions
This is true in the entertainment industry and even more so in sports.
soccer
Reposting a video of the clash, national player Amirhossein Esfandiar wrote: "You have no humanity, why are you beating and killing innocent people."
Former Iranian international footballer Hossein Masini was arrested on his way home in Tehran on the official grounds of "incitement to violence" and his cell phone and computer were confiscated; he was later released on bail. Similarly, a number of famous Iranian players, including Rezaie and Asgari, were also arrested.
Some players of Iran's domestic salon Persepolis wore black armbands during a game and were interviewed by security services after the match. Iranian players such as Taremi and Jahanbakhsh, who play in various European leagues, responded to the demands of the people in the country and showed their silent support by wearing black armbands in the match behind Amini.
Azmund is in the
World Cup
Coming Soon, Risking a Ban to Speak Out on the Death of Marsha Amini
The biggest Iranian player currently playing for Leverkusen in the Bundesliga is known as the "Iranian
Lionel Messi (1987-), Argentine footballer
" of Azmoun, expressed his more assertive stance, "I can't say much due to the rules of the national team, but I can't stand the silence any longer. I don't care if I get expelled from the national team. Look at what you have done to our citizens, it will never fade from our consciousness. It is shameful that you can easily erase a person. Long live the women of Iran!"
The World Cup was about to kick off, but he didn't hesitate to step up.
Tehran's 100,000-capacity Azadi Stadium, which used to be filled with the passion of 100,000 male spectators, was able to create huge problems for the Iranian team for the visitors, but these Iranian athletes are clearly not satisfied with that and know what women should have in a normal world.
Indeed, the sports arena has been at the forefront of Iranians' struggle for women's emancipation.
At the Asian Rock Climbing Championships held in Seoul, South Korea, earlier this year in October, Iranian girl Elnaz Rekabi was seen as the face of the movement in support of women's liberation in Iran when she competed without a hijab. Then came the news that she had gone missing after returning to her home country, and her family was taken under control.
A few days later, Rekabi returned to the public eye. She explained that she had returned home safely with her teammates, and that she didn't wear her hijab for the game because she was too rushed out for roll call to wear it. That explanation, we all know what it means. In the more than 40 years of the Islamic Republic's history, there has not been a single Iranian female athlete who has competed in a world sporting event without wearing a hijab.
Many believe that, despite the seemingly placid set of explanations offered by Recabi, who is to say that this was not a deliberate and tentative protest?
For a long time, sports have helped Iranian women to move forward step by step. The game between the World Sports Organization and the Iranian authorities on women's freedom has always been played out, with winners and losers.
The principle of non-discrimination and equality is clearly stated in Article 4 of the WFA regulations, and discrimination against any gender "is strictly prohibited and shall be penalized by suspension or expulsion." Decades ago, Iranian women were not allowed to enter stadiums to watch matches, and in 2006, under pressure from FIFA, Iran's then-President Nejad proposed allowing women to watch matches in specific areas of stadiums, but the plan was rejected by Iran's religious hierarchy.
Youth 2010
the Olympics
, WFA had declared Iran in violation of the rules for insisting that women's soccer wear hijabs in the tournament, with Thailand qualifying in its place.
By 2012, however, the ban on women in Iranian sports was extended to another emerging favorite sport of Iranians - the
soccer
, a female law school student was arrested after attempting to enter the Assadi Gym to watch a men's volleyball game.
In 2018, Iranian women had a "short-lived victory"
In June 2018, Iranian women were finally allowed to enter Azadi Stadium for the first time to watch the Iran-Spain World Cup group stage match live on the big screen; and the AFC Champions League final in Tehran in November of the same year was seen as a historic moment when a small section of the stands at Azadi Stadium was designated for some 800 Iranian women to watch the match. But, on September 2, 2019, after Sahar Khodayari, an Iranian woman, entered the stadium to watch the match only to be arrested by the Character Police, she resisted by setting herself on fire in front of the courthouse in a dramatic manner.
This event provoked the last wave of female liberation in Iran, with prominent athletes including Karimi and Teymourian (Ali Dey's latter-day runners) continually and strongly calling for the liberalization of restrictions on female spectatorship.
Eventually, after intervention by the World Football Federation, Iran liberalized restrictions during its home match against Cambodia in the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers (October 2019) to allow women to enter the stadium and watch the match.
Female Iranian fans at the '18 World Cup
However, things are not going as well as expected. Female spectators continue to face resistance in Iran, where 2,000 tickets were reserved for female fans for the March 2022 match against Lebanon, but these fans were barred from entering the stadium on the day of the match. They protested at the venue, but were pepper-sprayed by police.
Iranian women's struggle for freedom has been a long battle, and it is for this reason that Ali Dey's continued voice after overcoming their numbness is significant.
The Qatar World Cup is just around the corner, and the Iranian team will surely be the center of attention for the outside world on a globally watched stage. The world will be watching to see if the Iranian women in the stands can have more freedom, and sports, will give them courage.
