Sport is a bridge to peace. Two days after the Iranian attack on Israel, the voices in Iran are multiplying, openly and courageously expressing support for Israel, and renouncing the Iranian regime.
The story started after Iranian soccer player, Ramin Rezaeian, praised the Iranian attack on Israel, when he wrote on his X account: "We are the Iranian people and we do not pay ransom to anyone. Long live Iran." In his tweet, the Iranian soccer player posted a picture of knights on horses carrying the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Iranian soccer player received many angry reactions, and many anti-regime citizens and soccer fans in Iran wrote to him saying that this was not the flag of Iran, but the flag of the Islamic Republic, adding, "You are paying a ransom to the rule of the Mullahs all your life." Another wrote to him: "Pray that Israel acts wisely and does not respond stupidly like you – otherwise you and your family will have to seek refuge."
Currently, some Iranians are coming out publicly in support of Israel, and no less than Ali Karimi, one of the greatest Iranian soccer players of all time.
The former player, who played for the German Bayern Munich and is considered Iran's greatest talent, came out openly against the attack on Israel.
Karimi uploaded a picture to social networks, which simulates Israel and Iran as one fist, showing the Israeli flag and the previous Iranian flag with hands joined together, and wrote: "We are Iran, not the Islamic Republic,” in what seems like a new slogan of the opponents to the Ayatollah regime.
Karimi's post received many responses supporting the 45-year-old former player, who is known to oppose the Iranian regime and often speaks out against it. But Karimi is not alone.
Karimi's former teammate in Iran, Milad Zanidpour, also wrote, "This war has nothing to do with me. It does not represent me and my opinions. I am not the Islamic Republic and I believe that the regime launched an attack only out of considerations of political survival. How much money did you waste on this attack? The economy is bad, and they are wasting millions on firing missiles."
Vahid Sarlak, coach of Iran's judo team, and Saeid Mollaei, who was forced to find political asylum after being forced by the Ayatollahs' regime to boycott the 2019 World Judo Championships, to avoid facing Israeli opponent Sagi Muki, and several years competed in Israel for the first time in history, wrote in his Instagram account: "We Iranians are fighting the Islamic Republic, not Israel. We have no problem with the Jews and the Israelis, and we consider them our friends. The Iranian people should not pay the price of the regime's madness."