The defeat of Iran against the United States at the World Cup made people happy.
Protesters in Iranian Kurdistan fired fireworks on Tuesday, November 29, according to videos posted on social networks.
Iranian authorities maintain a heavy security posture in the country against what they say are 'riots' that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on September 16, three days after her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory dress code for women.
"Citizens of Saqez (Mahsa Amini's hometown) started shooting fireworks after USA's first goal against Iran soccer team," the Iran Wire website posted on Twitter. London.
The site shared a video showing fireworks with cheers in the background.
AFP could not immediately verify the content.
Saqez, along with other towns in the western province of Kurdistan, are hotbeds of protests against the clerical regime.
Another nighttime video by Kurdish activist Kaveh Ghoreishi showed a neighborhood in the town of Sanandaj with cheers and honking.
Fireworks were also set off in Mahabad, another city in Kurdistan, after Iran's defeat, according to videos shared on the internet.
According to the Norwegian-based human rights group Hengaw, fireworks also lit up the sky in Marivan, another town in Kurdistan province where security forces have in recent days carried out a harsh crackdown on protesters.
Fireworks and shouts of joy were also heard in Paveh and Sarpol-e Zahab, in the province of Kermanshah, according to the same source.
"Who would have ever thought I would be happy with America's goal!" tweeted Iranian gaming journalist Saeed Zafarany after his country's loss.
The victory of the United States excluded Iran from the World Cup in Qatar.
"And the Islamic Republic football team circus is over," tweeted former journalist Hamid Jafari.
Sadness in Tehran
On the other hand, it was despondency that fell on the Iranians.
They firmly believed that they were going to repeat the feat of their elders who had beaten the Americans at the 1998 World Cup.
The police, in civilian clothes or in uniform, were deployed in large numbers at the main intersections and in the main arteries of the capital, and the anti-riot units circulated on motorcycles to prevent any demonstrations hostile to the authorities.
With AFP
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