Ali Daei: Iran stops family’s departure

In Iran, an airliner with the wife and daughter of the former Iranian soccer league professional Ali Daei has been diverted on board: The Mahan Air machine that started in Tehran had to change course shortly before its destination Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and on the land on the Iranian island of Kish, where the two were asked to disembark. Daei’s wife had to go back to Tehran on orders from the security forces, and the daughter should have been allowed to travel on – which she didn’t do.

The former player from Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC reacted with disbelief to the dramatic ban on leaving the country. “Did the (security forces) want to arrest terrorists?” Ali Daei was quoted as saying. He tried to get a reason for the strange incident from several authorities, but so far in vain, reported the 53-year-old, who is celebrated as a folk hero in Iran, according to the daily newspaper “Etemad”.

Ali Daei had repeatedly criticized the government in recent months. He also supported the protest movement in his home country. In September, Daei called on the government on social media to “solve the problems of the Iranian people instead of using repression, violence and arrests”. According to Iranian legal sources, Daei’s wife has shown solidarity with “counter-revolutionary” opponents of the regime.

“Disruption of the Peace”

In October, Ali Daei reported that his passport was confiscated by police on his return from abroad, only to be returned a few days later. Daei later said he did not travel to the World Cup in Qatar because of the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the protests. In early December, Daei’s jewelry store and restaurant in an upscale neighborhood in northern Tehran were closed by state order for “collaborating with anti-revolutionary groups in cyberspace to disrupt the peace,” it said.

The protests in Iran were triggered by the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini in mid-September. The 22-year-old died after being arrested by the so-called vice police for improperly wearing a headscarf. According to international human rights organizations, more than 450 people have died in the course of the protests and thousands of demonstrators have been arrested.

wa/pgr (dpa, afp, sid)