Riot cops dance with young people in the streets, waving the flag together and setting off smoke grenades in the national colors. It seems like the ending to a badly written dystopian movie, or perhaps a copy of Kendall Jenner's infamously tone-deaf Pepsi commercial.
Instead, it was a real scene on Iranian television, after the national team's victory over Wales last week. Iranian authorities have tried to use the World Cup to stoke nationalist pride and project an image of unity amid an ongoing uprising.
