Former Iranian national soccer team captain Ali Daei on Tuesday harshly criticized the authorities after his family was prevented from traveling abroad on Monday following his statements in support of anti-government demonstrations in the country since September in the wake of the death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
Daei has indicated that airport authorities «did not give answers» as to why they were prevented from leaving the country. «What is the reason? Did they want to arrest terrorists?» he asked, before stressing that his wife was not planning to travel to the United States, Radio Farda reported.
According to official Iranian media, Daei’s wife is under a foreign travel ban for «participating in riots» and «calling for a strike», which is why she was prevented from traveling to Dubai. The media also stressed that the woman’s objective was to travel to the North American country.
Both Daei’s wife and daughter boarded the flight, which was diverted to make a stop on the Iranian island of Kish, where they had to get off. «What was the purpose? It was a short trip and they wanted to return next week,» the ex-footballer argued, as reported by the German news agency DPA.
The former Iranian player has shown solidarity with the protesters in the past, which led the authorities to temporarily confiscate his passport. The Iranian authorities have so far executed two people convicted for their role in the demonstrations, while several thousand have been arrested.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard recently confirmed that more than 300 people have died since the start of the protests, in what was the first official toll since the start of the protests following the death of Amini, a member of Iran’s Kurdish minority who was arrested for allegedly wearing the veil incorrectly. The figure is lower than the one provided by the NGO Iran Human Rights which points to more than 400 deaths due to repression by the security forces.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
