Hossein Vafaei admits he has received calls to pull out of the UK Championship amid the unrest back in his homeland in Iran.
Vafaei, 28, will take on Mark Selby in York on Tuesday amid ongoing protests in Iran, which has seen hundreds die in recent weeks with many more detained and facing possible execution.
The snooker star is trying to focus on the task at hand in the UK Championship but fears for the safety of friends and family, with the news leaving him in tears.
"The news you follow here, you don’t know exactly what it is showing, but sometimes I watch the news and I cry. They are my sisters, they are my brothers. When you see someone dying obviously it’s not nice," he told Metro.
"To be honest with you, knowing what is going on in my head, I don’t know how I’m playing. I don’t want to celebrate, I don’t want to say I’m happy when I win because of my people.
"Some of them text me saying I shouldn’t play now, I shouldn’t play out of respect, but what should I do? I need to have my life as well, life goes on. I am supporting my people, I am with them, but what can I do?
"This is not in my hands, there’s nothing I can do but be a voice for them. I’ve done my best for them, I don’t know what to do more.
"I just hope peace comes back to the people as soon as possible and I see them happy again. This is the only thing I can wish and say to my people."
Vafaei will take on Selby at the Barbican after coming through two qualifying rounds last week, seeing off Asjad Iqbal 6-4, before he beat Robbie Williams by the same score.
He added: "It has been hard for me to play. Staring the season I was happy. I made a 147, a few centuries, then after that I started feeling more and more negative.
"As soon as your mind becomes negative it’s hard to go back to the positive. This game is all mental and hopefully I’ll be happy again with my people. As soon as they are happy I will be happy too."
