Ahead of the tournament, taking place across the U.S., Canada and Mexico, FIFA outlawed the lion-and-sun flag at matches, saying it violated the organization’s code of conduct prohibiting “banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature.” Many Iranians at the match, eager to express their views publicly, … Read more
On a Tuesday in early June, the international terminal at Boston’s Logan Airport is a sea of blue Cape Verde soccer jerseys. Dozens of people have gathered here in hopes of catching a glimpse of the country’s national team arriving in the United States for the World Cup. As travelers pushing large carts of luggage … Read more
NEW YORK — Masood Masjoody had a long history of firing accusations at those he considered adversaries. So when he claimed on social media last fall that two fellow Iran-born activists were plotting to kill him, it did not get much notice. Then the mathematician disappeared in early February. By mid-March, police in British Columbia … Read more
NEW YORK — Iranian American Ariana Afshar has tried to produce commentary about the first weeks of the war in the Middle East based on the perspectives of people in Iran. But the New York-based social media creator keeps running into an obstacle: An internet blackout imposed by the government in Tehran has stifled almost … Read more
“We are not a monolith,” the Iranian Diaspora Collective, an Instagram account with over 81,000 followers, wrote in a post. “Millions of people will never share the same ideology or identity and that plurality is the strength of any free society.” Los Angeles-based pastor Ara Torosian, a Christian who moved to the United States from … Read more