Iran International
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, a possible ban on Iran’s lion-and-sun flag has opened a dispute between FIFA and Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic over identity, representation and politics in sport.
For many Iranians abroad, the World Cup is not only a sporting event. It is also a rare global stage where they can be seen, express identity and say things that can carry serious costs inside Iran.
Now, ahead of the 2026 tournament, that stage has become the center of a new argument. On the surface, it is about a flag. In practice, it is about who gets to define Iran, which symbols are allowed to represent it and where FIFA draws the line between sport and politics.
FIFA says flags, banners and symbols of a political nature are not allowed inside World Cup stadiums. Football’s global governing body says such rules are intended to preserve the neutrality of sport and prevent stadiums from becoming arenas for political conflict.
But in Iran’s case, many Iranians say that boundary is neither clear nor neutral.
Two flags, two visions of Iran
Opponents of the Islamic Republic say FIFA’s rules effectively privilege Tehran’s post-1979 official flag while treating the historic lion-and-sun banner as political.
The lion-and-sun emblem was used in Iran before the 1979 revolution and is still embraced by many Iranians as a national symbol outside the framework of the Islamic Republic.
The lion-and-sun emblem has deep roots in Iranian history and was used in different forms for centuries. After the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic replaced it with a new flag bearing religious and revolutionary symbols. For many opponents of the current system, the older flag has become a symbol of national identity separate from the Islamic Republic.
For them, a ban is not simply the enforcement of a stadium regulation. It is a choice between two competing narratives of Iran.
“If the Iranian government has registered its own symbol as the official flag, why should a symbol that was part of Iran’s history for centuries be considered political?” one Iranian opponent of the Islamic Republic in Los Angeles told Iran International. “Who gets to decide that definition?”
The debate is not new.
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there were reports that some Iranian fans faced restrictions when trying to enter stadiums with the lion-and-sun flag or symbols associated with anti-government protests.
The same question was raised then: whether sports bodies’ definition of a political symbol is truly neutral, or whether it can itself become a political decision.
A changed relationship with Team Melli
The issue is no longer only about the flag.
Since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, the relationship between parts of Iranian society and the national football team has changed significantly.
For decades, even as the Islamic Republic tried to fold public institutions into its official narrative, the national football team remained for many Iranians something larger than the government – a source of national pride, shared memory and collective identity.
After nationwide protests and intensified repression inside Iran, however, part of the public no longer views the team only through a sporting lens. The players’ conduct, silence or public positions, and their relationship with the state have all become politically charged.
Some opponents of the Islamic Republic now say the distance has grown deeper than ever, following the killing of large numbers of Iranians during the January protests and the rise in security pressure after the recent war.
In conversations with Iran International, several Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic in Los Angeles and Seattle repeated the same argument: for part of the public, this team no longer represents the Iranian people.
“We love football. We love Iran’s national team. We were happy when it won and sad when it lost,” one of them said. “But today, many people feel this is no longer the national team in which they can see themselves.”
For this group, the issue is not hostility toward football or rejection of a national sport. On the contrary, they see themselves as part of a society for which football has long been tied to everyday life and national identity.
Their argument is that when the ruling system tries to use every national symbol – from sport to the flag – for political legitimacy, separating sport from politics becomes difficult.
A symbol of reclaiming identity
In that atmosphere, the lion-and-sun flag is not merely a historical symbol for some opponents of the Islamic Republic. It is an attempt to reclaim a version of Iran they feel has been taken from them.
“If a team that the Islamic Republic considers its representative is going onto the pitch, we also want to show our Iran in the stands,” one protester said.
This is where the dispute becomes more complicated.
If some Iranians no longer see the official team as reflecting their national identity, then barring the symbol they identify with is not viewed as a simple stadium rule, but as another exclusion of their voice from the world stage.
At the same time, some Iranian legal and civil groups are pursuing legal avenues to challenge such restrictions. They argue that banning these symbols conflicts with principles of free expression, particularly in a country such as the United States, where free speech has strong legal protection.
The legal issue is complicated. World Cup stadiums under FIFA management operate under specific tournament rules and are not necessarily governed in the same way as ordinary public spaces.
Still, the anger among opponents of the Islamic Republic is real. Some openly say that even if the flag is banned inside stadiums, they will find other ways to display it.
For them, the question is no longer only whether one flag can enter a stadium. It is who has the authority to decide what Iran is, which symbol represents it and which voices are allowed to be visible on the world stage.
FIFA says politics should not enter sport. But when identity itself has become political for part of a nation, the deeper question is whether people can be asked to leave that identity outside the stadium gates.
As an advocacy officer with the Iranian Students’ Association at Toronto Metropolitan University, he says many of his peers have no family in Canada and have been living under severe financial and emotional pressure for months.
“Over 99 percent of Iranian students are suffering from this issue – not just emotionally, but financially. Many no longer have access to the money their families send,” he said.
Crisis reaches Canada
According to the latest figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, around 30,000 Iranian students live in Canada – young people who moved thousands of kilometers from their families in search of safety and stability.
But for many, the crisis is no longer confined to Iran. It has reached their classrooms, dormitories and daily lives in Canada.
Internet restrictions and blackouts in Iran, difficulties transferring money and growing economic pressure on families have left many Iranian students in Canada facing severe financial and psychological strain. Students say they have lost not only reliable access to family support, but in many cases regular contact with parents and loved ones for weeks or even months.
Kabiri says the problem now goes beyond emotional distress. Many international students are struggling to pay tuition and cover basic living expenses.
“Ontario’s laws are such that if you cannot pay your tuition, the university is allowed to expel you. Then there is the risk of having to return to Iran,” he said.
Fear of return
For some students, returning to Iran would not simply mean the end of their education. Many have taken part in anti-government rallies and protests in Toronto and fear they could face serious security consequences if forced back.
Shervin Akhlaghi, captain of the jiu-jitsu team at Toronto Metropolitan University, a member of the university’s Board of Governors and a member of the Iranian Students’ Association, says this has become one of the most urgent concerns among students in recent months.
“Many were active in the rallies. Their pictures have been published. If, for any reason, they cannot continue their education and are forced to return to Iran, God knows what will happen to them,” he said.
He says financial pressure has become so severe that some students are turning to university food banks to meet basic needs.
“Many students are now using emergency food services. The cost of living in Canada is very high, and many are not allowed to work more than a limited number of hours per week,” he said.
Mental health toll
Alongside the financial pressure, family separation, disrupted communication and uncertainty about the future are weighing heavily on students.
Sara Rahimi, a psychotherapist and author, says many Iranian students are experiencing severe anxiety, depression and helplessness.
“These kids feel like they are caught in the middle of a storm. They have no control over their future, nor are they sure they can finish their studies,” she said.
For many, Rahimi says, losing contact with family is not just a communication problem but a deep emotional rupture.
“It’s like the severing of an emotional umbilical cord for many of these students. They still need their family’s emotional support, and now that connection has suddenly been cut,” she said.
Rahimi also warns that prolonged stress, grief and anger could expose some students to risky behavior or social conflict, potentially jeopardizing their academic or professional future.
Limited support
Some Canadian universities have introduced limited measures, including tuition deferrals, flexible exam schedules, free counseling and emergency relief funds. But students say the support is inconsistent, limited in scope and unavailable at some institutions.
The Ontario government has also recently gained broader authority to intervene in university affairs under Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act, 2025. That authority could potentially be used to mandate special financial or academic accommodations for students from crisis-affected countries.
So far, however, no specific plan or official policy has been announced for Iranian students.
Akhlaghi says student associations from several Ontario universities, including the University of Toronto, York University, Queen’s University and Toronto Metropolitan University, have tried to raise the issue with the provincial government, but the response has been disappointing.
Generic response
According to Akhlaghi, the response from Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities felt generic and impersonal.
“Our feeling was as if this answer was written by artificial intelligence, because they sent the exact same repetitive response to student associations and even the media,” he said.
In response to questions from Iran International, the ministry did not directly mention Iranian students, saying only that universities and colleges have introduced “measures and supports” for students affected by global crises and advising students to contact their institutions directly.
Student activists say the situation requires more than generic guidance. They say Iranian students are facing overlapping financial distress, mental health challenges, immigration anxiety and fear of return, and need urgent, targeted policies.
Those measures, they say, should include flexibility on tuition payments, emergency financial aid, specialized mental health support and immigration assurances for students who may face danger if returned to Iran.
Beyond the blackout
Although internet access has improved in some parts of Iran in recent days, many students say their difficulties will not disappear quickly.
The sharp decline in families’ financial capacity, continued disruption in money transfers and months of instability have left many students under sustained financial and psychological strain.
For many, this was never only about internet blackouts. It has become a crisis that calls into question their academic future, mental well-being and ability to remain in Canada.
Derakhshani-Mehr, a law student at Islamic Azad University, was shot dead during protests on January 9, a source familiar with the case said.
He was struck by a live bullet in the side and had also suffered metal pellet wounds to the left side of his body before the fatal shooting, the source said.
After he was transferred to Ganjavian hospital, his body was left alongside those of several other young protesters in the hospital grounds, according to witnesses and hospital staff cited by the source.
Witnesses said wounded protesters were denied treatment and that several people died because they did not receive medical care. Blood covered parts of the hospital grounds because of the severity of the injuries, they added.
Family searched hospitals and morgues
Derakhshani-Mehr’s family spent hours searching for him and went to the hospital, where officials initially denied he was there despite the family checking different wards.
Emergency personnel later told the family his body was being held in the hospital morgue, but security forces sealed the facility and prevented relatives from seeing him, the source added.
Family members were also given conflicting information by different authorities and were at one point told that he was still alive.
His body was eventually identified at the forensic medicine office in Ahvaz after being transferred there as an unidentified person, according to the account received by Iran International.
Before handing over the body, authorities forced the family to agree that the burial would take place at night and attended only by a small number of people. Derakhshani-Mehr was buried in Shahidabad cemetery in Dezful.
Night burials reported in earlier crackdowns
Security forces in Iran have previously buried slain protesters at night or without notifying their families.
In one case previously reported by Iran International, a 16-year-old boy named Reza who was killed during protests in Karaj was secretly buried by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps without his family’s knowledge.
Witnesses said Reza was shot by a sniper around 9 p.m. on January 8 in the Shahin Vila neighborhood of Karaj. He later died after being moved to a residential parking area and then taken to a clinic.
People familiar with the case said the teenager’s family was informed the following day that members of the Revolutionary Guards had buried him overnight and disclosed the location of the grave afterward.
Akbari Feyzabadi had been convicted on charges including moharebeh, or waging war against God, “deliberate destruction of public property, disrupting public order and collusion against national security,” Judiciary news outlet Mizan said.
The court cited what it described as the defendant’s confessions about carrying a handgun, appearing in the streets and opening fire during the unrest in Naein county, the report said.
The Supreme Court, judiciary said, upheld the ruling after reviewing the case file and found no flaws in the verdict, which it said was based on evidence, documentation and the defendant’s statements.
Cases involving espionage and national security accusations in the Islamic Republic have long drawn scrutiny from rights groups and lawyers over allegations of forced confessions, torture, restricted access to independent lawyers and denial of fair trial guarantees.
With Akbari Feyzabadi’s execution, at least 38 prisoners convicted on political or security-related charges have been executed in Iran since March 18, according to a tally based on publicly reported cases.
Rights group HRANA had previously said at least 52 prisoners facing political or security-related charges were executed during the past Iranian year.
Lawmakers back executions
On May 4, 63 members of parliament issued a statement thanking the judiciary for carrying out death sentences against January protest detainees and urged Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to take what they called decisive and public action against the “main elements” behind the protests.
The judiciary’s media outlet reported Sunday that another political prisoner, Mojtaba Kian, was executed after being convicted in Alborz province of sending information about defense industry sites to networks linked to the United States and Israel during attacks on Iran.
Iranian security forces have arrested thousands of people across the country on political and security-related accusations since the start of US and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.
