Iran Arrests Outspoken Player amid World Cup Scrutiny 

In this file photo Esteghlal's defender Voria Ghafouri (L) is marked by Ahli's defender Mohammed al-Fatil during the AFC Champions League group C match between Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli and Iran's Esteghlal on April 27, 2021, at the King Abdullah sport city stadium in the Saudi city of Jeddah. (AFP)
In this file photo Esteghlal's defender Voria Ghafouri (L) is marked by Ahli's defender Mohammed al-Fatil during the AFC Champions League group C match between Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli and Iran's Esteghlal on April 27, 2021, at the King Abdullah sport city stadium in the Saudi city of Jeddah. (AFP)
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Iran Arrests Outspoken Player amid World Cup Scrutiny 

In this file photo Esteghlal's defender Voria Ghafouri (L) is marked by Ahli's defender Mohammed al-Fatil during the AFC Champions League group C match between Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli and Iran's Esteghlal on April 27, 2021, at the King Abdullah sport city stadium in the Saudi city of Jeddah. (AFP)
In this file photo Esteghlal's defender Voria Ghafouri (L) is marked by Ahli's defender Mohammed al-Fatil during the AFC Champions League group C match between Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli and Iran's Esteghlal on April 27, 2021, at the King Abdullah sport city stadium in the Saudi city of Jeddah. (AFP)

Iran has arrested a prominent former member of its national football team over his criticism of the government as authorities grapple with nationwide protests that have cast a shadow over the team as it competes in the World Cup before a global audience. 

The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported Thursday that Voria Ghafouri was arrested for "insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing against the government." 

Ghafouri, who was not chosen to go to the World Cup, has been an outspoken critic of Iranian authorities throughout his career, objecting to a longstanding ban on women spectators at men's soccer matches as well as Iran's confrontational foreign policy, which has led to crippling Western sanctions. 

More recently, he expressed sympathy for the family of a 22-year-old woman whose death while in the custody of Iran's morality police ignited the latest protests. In recent days he also called for an end to a violent crackdown on protests in Iran's western Kurdish region. 

The reports of his arrest came ahead of Friday’s World Cup match between Iran and Wales. At Iran’s opening match, a 6-2 loss to England, the members of the Iranian national team declined to sing along to their national anthem and some fans protested. 

The protests were ignited by the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman arrested by the morality police in the capital, Tehran. They rapidly escalated into nationwide demonstrations calling for the overthrow of the republic. The western Kurdish region of the country, where Amini was from, has seen particularly intense protests and a deadly crackdown by security forces. 

Ghafouri, who is also a member of Iran's Kurdish minority, has criticized government policies in the past. Officials have not said whether that was a factor in not choosing him for the national team. He plays for the Khuzestan Foolad team in the southwestern city of Ahvaz. 

The protests show no sign of waning, and mark one of the biggest challenges to Iran's ruling clerics since the 1979 revolution that brought them to power. Authorities have blamed the unrest on hostile foreign powers, without providing evidence. 

The protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, including a strict dress code imposed on women. 



Putin Urges Iran to Take 'Zero Enrichment' Nuclear Deal with US, Axios Reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2025. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2025. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Putin Urges Iran to Take 'Zero Enrichment' Nuclear Deal with US, Axios Reports

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2025. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2025. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, Axios reported on Saturday, citing sources, Reuters reported.

Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim denied the report, quoting an "informed source" as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.