An Iranian man was tragically shot dead by security forces during celebrations over the country’s World Cup loss to the United States, it has been reported.
Mehran Samak, 27, reportedly was honking his car horn along with hundreds of others in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, north-west of the capital Tehran, before he was killed.
People were horrified to learn that Mr Samak was a childhood friend of Iranian international midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi, who played in the US match.
Posting a picture on his Instagram he wrote: “After last night’s bitter loss, the news of your passing set fire to my heart.
“This is not what our youth deserve. This is not what our nation deserves.”
Alongside a photograph of them together in a youth football team, he described Samak as a “childhood teammate" and said, “someday the masks will fall, the truth will be laid bare.”
A Norweigan-based Iranian human rights group, IHR, said Mr Samak “was targeted directly and shot in the head by security forces… following the defeat of the national team against America."
Samak's last Instagram story suggested he had watched the game between the United States and Team Melli, as the Iran side is known.
In the screenshotted story he wrote: "Tonight, regardless of any result, let’s just be together."
The politically charged game gained lots of attention as over the weekend, Iranian state media called on FIFA to kick the US out of the World Cup after the US Soccer Federation doctored the Iran flag in a social media post.
The match also took place against a backdrop of violent repression in Iran which has seen the country's regime face harsh and justified criticism after a 22-year-old Kurdish woman died in police custody triggering protests.
Because of that, the Iranian players refused to sing the nation’s national anthem in their opening match against England.
The families of Iran’s World Cup team were then threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players failed to “behave” ahead of the match against the USA on Tuesday.
A security source told CNN that they were told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.
Iran’s security forces have killed at least 448 people in the crackdown on the protests, including 60 children under the age of 18 and 29 women, according to IHR.
The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran published a video from Samak’s funeral in Tehran on Wednesday where mourners could be heard shouting “death to the dictator”.
