A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
There were cheers, there were jeers and there were protests at Monday night’s World Cup game between Iran and New Zealand. NPR’s Arezou Rezvani reports from Los Angeles on the 2-2 draw.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: Stop, stop execution in Iran.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Stop, stop execution in Iran.
AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: It was nearly impossible to enter the World Cup stadium last night without encountering protesters – protesters like 26-year-old Mona Cheshmhehil (ph).
MONA CHESHMHEHIL: I don’t have tickets because I didn’t want to go to a game where I’m forced to have the regime flag.
REZVANI: Cheshmhehil sees Iran’s national soccer team as an extension of Iran’s government. So last night, whenever she and other protesters spotted Iranians waving the Islamic Republic’s flag, they’d let them have it.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: (Shouting in Persian).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: (Shouting in Persian).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: (Shouting in Persian).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #4: (Shouting in Persian).
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: (Shouting in Persian).
REZVANI: “You’re honorless,” screamed one woman. “A terrorist,” yelled another. At one point, those curses were hurled at Ornela Tehrani and her friend, who were carrying an anti-war sign with the number 168. Iranian authorities say that’s the number of children killed in an airstrike on a school during the U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
ORNELA TEHRANI: One of the ladies just called us a terrorist as we were walking by. So – you know, my family fled during the revolution. They don’t like the current government either. We just want to see Iranians make that decision on their own without U.S. intervention for once.
REZVANI: The jeering continued in the stadium with boos during Iran’s national anthem. Once the game started, even those outside the stadium who refused to buy tickets couldn’t help but watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: This group is there for the taking. And…
REZVANI: Just down the street, a group of antiregime activists crowded around a TV. They cheered when New Zealand scored the first goal…
(CHEERING)
REZVANI: …And were indifferent when Iran scored the equalizer.
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REZVANI: But as the minutes ticked by, as the players waltzed past each other with New Zealand scoring a second goal, it was hard to hold back pride when Iran stormed back to tie the game again.
(CHEERING)
REZVANI: Sixty-six-year-old Banu Vallah (ph) threw her hands up in the air, then snapped out of it, conflicted.
BANU VALLAH: (Speaking Persian).
REZVANI: “I’m forgetting that it’s the Islamic Republic playing,” she said. It’s becoming a celebration after all.
Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF GIZMO VARILLAS’ “EL DORADO”) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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