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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay

While Trump monetises war, Iran women’s team deliver great act of sporting heroism

An illustration of the shadow of a soldier over an Iranian flag
The players of Iran’s women’s football team were condemned by state television as ‘traitors’. Illustration: Gary Neill

A small but telling detail from a vast and baffling chain of events. You probably saw the footage of Donald Trump’s declaration of war on Iran two weeks ago, a piece of history played out in real time, a moment where the inevitable violent deaths of thousands of people were in effect announced.

In the video Trump is shown propped up at his plinth, using that sing-song intonation he employs to appear cod-statesmanlike, faux-grave, but sounding instead like a semi-sentient robot vacuum cleaner in the seconds before it runs out of battery life. To the great people of Iran. America is backing you. Don’t go outside. It’s very dangerous out there. We will for the foreseeable future be bombing you to freedom.

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