Man killed in Iran after celebrating US defeat in Qatar Cup

An Iranian man was shot dead by security forces after celebrating his country’s elimination from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, human rights groups said on Wednesday.

Iran’s national team was defeated by the United States in the match played on Tuesday night (29), generating different reactions from supporters and critics of the Iranian regime.

Mehran Samak, 27, was killed after honking his car horn in Bandar Anzali, a town on the Caspian coast northwest of Tehran, human rights groups reported.

Samak “was a deliberate target. The security forces shot him in the head (…) after the defeat of the national team against the United States”, denounced the group Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) also reported that Samak was killed by security forces for celebrating the defeat.

The institution released a video of his burial in Tehran on Wednesday, in which chants of “Death to the dictator!” 🇧🇷

Iran is the scene of protests sparked by the death, on September 16, of the young Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, three days after being arrested. She was accused of violating the country’s dress code, which requires women to wear a headscarf in public.