Ali Daei, an Iranian footballer said a plane en route from Tehran to Dubai had been rerouted and his family were ordered off. Daei is an anti-regime protester and public backer of Jina Mahsa Amini.
Ali Daei said his wife and daughter were prevented from traveling after their plane made an unannounced diversion en route to Dubai on Monday. Daei has expressed his support for anti-government protests.
According to Daei’s account, his family left from Tehran, but their flight made an unannounced stop on Kish Island. The island is in the Persian Gulf. The authorities questioned the family.
The football star said his daughter was released, but she was prevented from reboarding the flight to Dubai. The family had planned to travel to the United Arab Emirates and return next week.
The Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reports that government imposed a travel ban on Daei’s wife earlier this month because of her support for the protests. While the state-run IRNA news agency said that “Daei’s wife had pledged to inform the relevant institutions of her decision before leaving the country,” due to her association with anti-regime groups.
Daei is among several Iranian celebrities who came out in support of the protests following the death of Masha Amini. On September 27 he had raised his voice via social media against the repressive regime. He asked the government to resolve Iranian people’s problems rather then exercising repression, violence and arrests.”
The footballer has had multiple run-ins with the authorities following his remarks online. The police had confiscated Daei’s passport in October upon his return. The police returned the passport in a few weeks. However the authorities sealed his jewlery shop and restaurant in December.
The local media reports that the closure followed for “cooperation with anti-revolutionary groups in cyberspace.
