The football sensation Ali Karimi was criticized by the Fars News Agency, which is owned by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for his social media posts endorsing the ongoing protests in Iran.
On Friday morning, it appeared that the agency’s official website was down, possibly as a result of the extensive hacking effort that Anonymous had started two days earlier. However, the piece once more referred to Karimi as a “rabble-rouser”—the label used by Tehran authorities to disparage civilians who are participating in the protests—and urged Iran’s security and judicial agencies to “deal with” him.
Since the passing of Mahsa Amini last Friday, Karimi has been very active online, posting messages against the Islamic Republic and in support of the protesters. Karimi is one of a small but growing number of well-known public figures in Iran who have repeatedly denounced the crimes of the regime going back years. A group of individuals was heard screaming his name last night in Tehran.’
Karimi released two posts on Thursday: one outlining several VPN services Iranians might use to circumvent the government’s internet censorship, and the other outlining how people could secure their online privacy. On Thursday, he also urged people to stop cooperating with Iranian people and organizations that were opposed to the protests. In a single tweet addressed to the military that received more than 140,000 likes, he simply stated, “A motherland is waiting for you. Don’t allow innocent people to die.
One of the most well-known Iranians supporting the demonstrations is Karimi. He formerly played for Persepolis, Al-Ahli Dubai, Bayern Munich, Qatar SC, and Tractor Sazi. From 1998 until his retirement in 2013, he also played for the Iranian national football team. In 2004, he was voted Asian Footballer of the Year.
Karimi has been despised by the Iranian political establishment, and the IRGC in particular, for more than a decade, since the first large-scale pro-democracy rallies in Iran broke out in 2009. Fars has already demanded his arrest several times.