Monitoring Desk
DUBAI: Iranian authorities rerouted a flight to Dubai and barred the wife and daughter of former national soccer team captain Ali Daei from leaving the country on Monday, after the former soccer player supported anti-government protests.
Captain Ali Daei
The 53-year-old, who has publicly supported anti-government demonstrations, said that his family had attempted to fly on Monday from Tehran to Dubai to accompany him on vacation. However, they were taken off the flight when it was directed to land on an Iranian island in the Gulf.
The two are returning to Tehran without being given a reason, Ali Daei continued. The most recent demonstrations started after Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, died while being held captive in September. She had been detained because she was allegedly misusing her headscarf.
Human rights activists say that thousands more protesters have been detained while over 500 have been killed, including 69 children. According to reports, dozens of Iranian security personnel were also killed. No going back as the Iran protests hit 100 days
Mona Farrokhazari, Mr. Daei’s wife, reportedly promised to inform authorities before leaving the country as a result of the couple’s “association with the groups against the Islamic revolution,” according to the official news agency of Iran, Irna.
Irna reported that “Ali Daei’s wife and daughter got off the plane” after their flight touched down at Kish Island.
Mr Daei claimed the two “were traveling for a few days to Dubai and back, and if they had been prohibited from leaving, the passport police system ought to have indicated that. I have not received a response to this from anyone.”
In a social media post from September, he urged the government to “solve the problems of the Iranian people rather than using repression, violence, and arrests.” His restaurant and jewelry store in Tehran was closed down by the judiciary earlier in December.
In addition to making arrests, Iranian authorities have prohibited a number of famous people from leaving the country because they supported the widespread demonstrations. Ali Daei, 53, is one of Iran’s most famous sports figures. He was a former captain of the national football team and scored 109 goals for his country during the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s.
