Conflicts & War

Iran used court order to land plane carrying Ali Daei’s family

Tehran, Dec 27 (EFE).- Iranian authorities emitted a court order to reroute the plane carrying the wife and daughter of Iranian football legend Ali Daei, which had been due to land in Dubai, a spokesman for the airline Mahan Air said Tuesday.

The international flight from Tehran to Dubai was ordered to land on Iran’s Kish Island, in the Persian Gulf, on Monday.

“It was a court order and had nothing to do with the airline,” public relations spokesman Amirhossein Zolanvari told the local news outlet Rouydad 24, adding that the plane was still in Iranian airspace when the order came in.

Daei, who has expressed his backing for the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, said Monday that his wife and daughter were due to join him for a break in Dubai before returning to Iran the following week.

“If they are banned from leaving the country, the customs police website should indicate that,” he added in comments to the ISNA news agency.

Daei is a sporting legend in Iran and held the claim to most international goals — 109 — until Cristiano Ronaldo beat his record in 2021.

He refused to attend the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in solidarity with the families who have lost loved ones in the protests that erupted in September following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini following her arrest for alleged improper use of the obligatory headscarf.

NGOs believe over 400 people have been killed in the unrest. EFE

ar/jt

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