A man in northern Iran was shot dead by security forces as he celebrated the Iranian national football team’s loss to the United States in the World Cup, a media group said on Wednesday. defence of rights.
Mehran Samak, 27, was killed after being shot in the head by security forces during a rally celebrating Iran’s defeat and elimination from the World Cup in Bandar Anzali, said the rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) based in Oslo.
An Iranian judicial official confirmed Samak’s death on Thursday, saying he died after being shot after the US-Iran match.
“As soon as this suspicious incident occurred, a lawsuit was filed to deal with the matter, and the prosecutor of Bandar Anzali is handling the case,” the semi-official ISNA news agency said, quoting the responsible.
The United States beat Iran 1-0 on Tuesday to advance to the knockout stage at the expense of Iran, which was knocked out of the competition.
Iranians took to the streets of several cities on Wednesday morning to celebrate the defeat of the Iranian team, videos circulating on social media showed.
Many Iranians have turned against their national football team amid ongoing protests. They see the group as representing the regime rather than the Iranian people.
Social media posts showed that some in Iran had also celebrated Iran’s 6-2 defeat in their World Cup opener against England.
Protests have swept Iran since September 16, when 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died three days after collapsing in police custody.
Protesters have called for regime change in the demonstrations, which have become one of the boldest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979.
At least 448 people, including 60 children and 29 women, were killed by security forces during the protests, according to IHR.