Citing an unnamed source, IRNA said Ghafouri was arrested for engaging in “propaganda against the regime” and supporting “rioters,” a term Tehran uses to refer to anti-regime protesters. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Ghafouri was arrested on charges of “insulting” the Iranian national football team and “propagandizing against the regime.” Ghafouri, a right-back who currently plays for Foolad Khuzestan in Iran, has been a vocal critic of the regime and its violent crackdown on protests that have swept across Iran since September 16 when 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died three days after collapsing in police custody.
