Amid protests in Iran that have lasted for nearly three months, many Iranians were supporting the United States in defeating their own home country in Tuesday’s World Cup match.
Tuesday’s match was fundamental for both squads. Iran would have advanced to the knockout stage with a draw, while the USMNT needed a win, which they earned, to advance.
However, some protesters feel that a loss or draw by Iran will now hurt the regime on the world stage and fuel the protesters’ fight.
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In an encrypted phone interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, an Iranian woman who called herself “Mahoora” and lives in southern Iran said: “It’s not just some people in Iran, it’s the majority of people in Iran who they want the US to win (Tuesday) Silent majority [of Iranians] did not celebrate the victory of the regime team over Wales”.
Celebrations took place in many districts of Tehran, the capital of Iran, as well as in the highly populated cities of Mashhad, Isfahan and Karaj.
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Ali Safavi, a member of the foreign affairs committee of Iran’s Paris-based National Council of Resistance, issued the following statement:
“The jubilant reaction across Iran at the defeat of the regime’s football team tonight reflects first and foremost the degree to which the Iranian people hate and loathe the ruling mullahs and want to see them overthrown. They knew the regime was trying to exploit its team’s presence at the World Cup to eclipse the ruthless way in which it has suppressed the national uprising, which has left 660 protesters, including at least 60 children, dead and 30,000 (arrests ).At no time in his 43-year rule has the regime been so isolated in the eyes of the Iranian people that they are determined as ever to overthrow it.”
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the The United States was also angry Iran over the weekend when the US Soccer Federation briefly removed the Islamic Republic emblem from its flag in a social media post in support of the protesters. Iran called for the United States to be banned from the tournament after the demonstration.
Benjamin Weinthal and Ryan Gaydos of Fox News contributed to this report.