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The Iranian Football Federation filed a complaint with Fifa after the symbol of the Islamic Republic was removed from their flag in social media posts by the US team.
Ahead of their World Cup meeting on Tuesday, the US removed the Allah symbol in graphics posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The US said it decided not to use Iran’s official flag to show “support for women in Iran fighting for basic human rights”, amid anti-government protests. government is rampant in this country.
Protests in Iran, met with a fierce crackdown, were sparked by death in prison in september by Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by the ethics police for allegedly violating the strict rules of head covering.
“In an act of unprofessionalism, the Instagram page of the American football federation has removed the symbol of Allah from the Iranian flag,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA said.
“The Iranian Football Federation sent an email to Fifa [football’s world governing body] to ask it to issue a dire warning to the US federation.”
A US Soccer spokesman later said the posts had been deleted and replaced with those that properly used the Iranian flag, but added: “We still support Iranian women.”
Iran has accused the United States and other foreign adversaries of instigating the protests, with the US government imposing sanctions on Iranian officials over the crackdown.
The United States and Iran severed diplomatic relations in 1980.
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