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The Iranian regime is sinking; the more they do this kind of shit, the more they hasten their fall. Sad for those who give their life in the process.

I hope that Mehran Samak's sacrifice emboldens his countrymen in their fight for freedom.

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I'm seriously worried for the safety of the Iranian football team & their families when they return to Iran.

They would be smart to go the asylum route

I was thinking this when they first refused to sing the national anthem. I was actually hoping they'd ask for asylum somewhere. Then I read how their families were threatened & of course it's never going to be that easy with that held over them.

Jesus christ. My professor who is Iranian himself was telling me yesterday how he was happy Iran didn't win and was glad the players didn't sing the national anthem but it's still immensely troubling that the government is able to harm their families for not adhering to some "cordiality" at the games if they threw the game or acted in a way to embarrass the government. Hope the players don't have any trouble when the world cup is over.

I hope they thought about their families before they pulled that move and got them out of Iran.

I dunno how possible seeking asylum in Qatar would be, considering the two nations have close ties and both are repressive regimes it may be a little complicated.

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I don't think they did as I read a couple days ago that all the families had been visited & threatened if the players refused to toe the line.

Countries like Iran are always aware of the likelihood of their athletes/ sports ppl requesting asylum abroad whenever international travel is involved & they take steps to deter this :/

Very true. Lets hope they find a way out