Mason Razayan is a global opinion writer for the Washington Post. He previously served as the Post correspondent in Tehran, and he was unjustly imprisoned by Iran for more than a year until his release in 2016.
And now he's written his opinion piece for the newspaper, and it says this I'm Team USA, but it's more important that Iran advances in the World Cup. Jason, thanks so much for joining us. Thought-provoking a column there, and you wanted it to be that way.
I mean, this must be not just what you're thinking, but what you're feeling at this point. Why? Well, Paula, first of all, us. And Iran has not played in the World Cup since 98. That was the only other time they faced off in this competition.
And for me, throughout my entire life, when the US. And Iran would compete, I'm first and foremost an American. I root for America. But this time around, with everything that's happening inside Iran, the ongoing protests now in their third month, the number of people who have been killed by the regime, the arrests and detentions of thousands of protesters, and this is all happening at a time when there are so many other things going on in the world.
I think it's an important moment for people to keep eye on what's going on inside Iran. And a spot like the one where the World Cup shines is hard to beat. I don't want to put too strong a point of it, but do you think that that could change the course of history?
And I don't mean on the soccer or football page. Well, look, I mean, I think we're watching history play out inside Iran, and whether or not people around the world know about that is an indication of just the number of different things that are grabbing our attention.
You might have seen during one of the games earlier on Monday that someone, ran onto the field wearing a T-shirt saying, Save Ukraine. And on the back respect Iranian women. And, you know, this is a site that billions of eyes will witness.
And so as historians being made in that country, as we talk about these games, invariably the geopolitics come into it and I think it's just a really important platform. We're talking a lot about the provocative move on the part of the US team and yet many are now pointing out that what the Iranian team members did was incredibly courageous by not singing the anthem during that first game.
And I found that the coach himself, speaking as a European and not as an Iranian, obviously did not have as much at stake for him. He said it bluntly to everyone. You cannot imagine what these young men are going through.
What are they going through? Jason? You know better than most well it's massive pressure. They are the representatives of their country, of their fellow Iranians. At the same time, their paymasters are a brutal regime and that exerts a lot of pressure on them.
And your reporting here has indicated that Iranian security agents have put even more pressure on these players to fall in line, not publicly support protesters, but just by standing up and not singing the anthem or in a press conference talking about their support.
For the grieving Iranians who lost loved ones in these protests, talking about how they're standing with them. It's incredibly powerful. It may seem subtle to us in the outside world who live in freedom, but for Iranian standards over the last 43 years, it's a big deal.
What do you expect to see on the pitch between the players? I don't want to ask your opinion on football. I mean, kind of the way they will treat each other and what will ultimately happen during the match.
Ultimately, I hope that it's similar to what happened in 1998, which was a great show of sportsmanship, and friendship. At the end of the day, they're going to be on the field battling it out as competitors.
But I hope in a fair and friendly way, and I expect, as an American of Iranian heritage and knowing these two countries well and the people of these two countries well, I think that's what's going to happen.
Jason, I can't thank you enough, not just for your informed perspective effective, but a very personal one as well. Appreciate it. Thanks