As demonstrations against the regime in Iran hit day 75, many of the protesters hope that the U.S. men's national team at the World Cup and the Biden administration can send a signal of support to the protesters.
Some protesters feel that an Iranian loss or draw in the upcoming game against the U.S. will hurt the regime on the world stage and give fuel to the protesters fight on.
In an encrypted telephone interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, an Iranian woman who called herself "Mahoora" and lives in southern Iran, said, "It's not just some people in Iran, it is the majority of people in Iran that want the U.S. to win" on Tuesday. The silent majority [of Iranians] did not celebrate the regime team’s victory over Wales."
Mahoora explained that Iranians reject their national team, saying, "Because a soccer team should bring honor to its people. They must be our champions. But right now people on the street are getting murdered. And people are burying children after they were killed, and the soccer team of the mullahs met [President] Ebrahim Raisi and celebrates someone’s birthday and laughed together. And they didn’t pay attention to the people. The football players just wanted to be the center of the attention."
Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital, "Imagine how dire the situation is for Iranians who are actually not rooting for their own team, as they see their national team as not an extension of the Iranian people but aligned with the Islamic regime."
Daftari added, "We saw in the Iran/England matchup how Iranians were actually cheering when the opposing teams scored, and they may do the same in rooting for the U.S. in this match. At the last very least, we will surely see Iranians using this opportunity to call on the U.S. to support their movement."
