{"id":15401,"date":"2026-06-16T04:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15401"},"modified":"2026-06-16T04:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:02:41","slug":"fans-from-iran-show-up-to-be-heard-on-world-cup-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15401","title":{"rendered":"Fans from Iran show up to be heard on World Cup stage"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

INGLEWOOD \u2013 Despite his drive from Las Vegas to join the crowd at SoFi Stadium on Monday, Bahador Morady insisted he had no interest in what happened on the field when Iran took on New Zealand in the teams\u2019 opening game of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Read more Iran rallies to salvage a draw with New Zealand in World Cup opener<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not here for this team,\u201d he said and nodded toward the pitch. \u201cI\u2019m here to be the voice of the people of Iran. I\u2019m here because they can\u2019t be heard there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morady was among the many fans who defied the anticipated ban on the \u201cLion and Sun\u201d flag from before the Islamic revolution in Iran. Some wore it on shirts, essentially daring security officials to make them remove it. Others, such as Morady, simply hid it until they were on the stadium concourse.<\/p>\n

There was also a large contingent of Iranian fans who energetically waved the nation\u2019s current flag.<\/p>\n

Throw in the occasional Stars and Stripes and the wait-and-see nature of the peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, and the pregame atmosphere at SoFi Stadium was considerably more tense than it was for the Americans\u2019 opener Friday. The police and security presence was far more visible, too, though there didn\u2019t appear to be many problems that escalated beyond verbal sparring.<\/p>\n

And when Iran\u2019s Ramin Rezaeian scored in the 32nd minute to tie the game, Iranian fans all over the stadium and all over the political spectrum celebrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love football and want to see Iran win,\u201d Art Thaba of Los Angeles said after he held the \u201cSun and Lion\u201d flag high during the Iranian national anthem. \u201cIranian people love football. I don\u2019t know what this team will do yet, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two women who were decked out in Iranian gear pounded on a counter in a standing-room section, excitedly shouted about their presence at the game, and asked a reporter to hold their spots while they took pictures to commemorate the occasion.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But when he asked them why it was important for them to be there, they quickly and politely declined to answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all too political,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a reality that many in the robust Iranian diaspora in Southern California understand, whether they support the current government or wish the United States would continue its campaign until regime change was accomplished.<\/p>\n

One confrontation on the 300 level at SoFi was between a woman who wore a T-shirt with the official Iranian flag and another who wore one with the \u201cSun and Lion\u201d version. They gave each other an earful for a few minutes, with a police officer standing watch nearby, before one walked away.<\/p>\n

Read more San Clemente schools, Westcliff University clinch NSSA national championships<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

A few minutes later, a group with official flags was antagonized by a man waving an American flag in their faces until other Iranian fans \u2014 presumably not loyal to the government \u2014 jumped in to tell them they were No. 1, or something along those lines.<\/p>\n

On Monday morning, about a dozen supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an international political organization based in France and\u00a0Albania, rallied near SoFi Stadium to protest what they said was the Iranian government\u2019s persecution of athletes and political prisoners.<\/p>\n

The protesters also called on FIFA to suspend Iran from international competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to protest FIFA\u2019s decision to allow the regime \u2026 to use soccer to cover all the crimes they\u2019ve been committing for the past 47 years,\u201d said one of the protesters, Ghodrat Jamshido. \u201cThe Iranian government is not for sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis regime should not have been allowed (on) this world stage,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Later, in the stadium, Amir Guerami from Westwood explained that many fans from the Southern California community wanted Iran to win but also wanted to make sure support of a team wasn\u2019t misconstrued as support for the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re supporting the people,\u201d said Guerami, who was born in Iran but moved with his family to Washington, D.C., when he was 6. \u201cWinning in soccer is a point of national pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most Iranians, especially in Southern California, they kind of have the same view. I think people in Iran know we\u2019re supporting them. Whether their government uses that as propaganda is another thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerami was among the many who hid their \u201cSun and Lion\u201d flags to get past security, but he wrapped it around his shoulders once he was in the stadium. He said he felt comfortable since there\u2019s such a strong Iranian presence in Southern California, something he said made SoFi Stadium the ideal place for Iran to open World Cup play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it shows the Iranian government how supportive of the people we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Nara Organics recalls baby formula sold at Target after multistate infant botulism outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n

Staff photographer Drew A. Kelley contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some showed up at SoFi Stadium just to make a statement, but many others cheered enthusiastically for Iran in its opener, no matter their feelings about the country’s government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nFans from Iran show up to be heard on World Cup stage - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=15401\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fans from Iran show up to be heard on World Cup stage - 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