Iran’s national soccer team faces retribution in the Islamic Republic after coming up short in Tuesday’s showdown against the United States, experts told The Post.
Mike Baker, a former CIA covert operations officer, said the Iranian players are stuck in an “untenable position” after their much-hyped match against the United States, which defeated Iran 1-0 to advance to the knockout round of 16.
“Given what we’ve seen from the Iranian regime … they’ve shown themselves to be brutal and there’s no reason to believe they’re going to suddenly become rational,” Baker said.
In their opening match against England last week, Iran’s players declined to sing their national anthem in an apparent protest over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly beaten in police custody for failing to properly wear a hijab in September.
And although Iran’s players sang their national anthem Tuesday, a win against the US would have helped ease their prior transgression, Baker said.