The ongoing protests against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran have also been heard in Krakow, where Iran is taking part in the 2023 World Handball Championship, being hosted by Poland and Sweden.
Even though the event is being held thousands of kilometers beyond Iran's borders, the Iranian regime is doing everything it can to discourage – or even physically stop – any form of protest. Among the members of the Iranian handball delegation for the tournament are so-called "morality guardians" who answer directly to the Islamic Republic's Ministry of Information.
Officially, they are accredited as team supervisors, but their actual work has nothing to do with supporting the players on the court. The morality guardians not only monitor the behavior of the national team players, but they also closely observe their surroundings, particularly the spectators.
One incident during Iran's 34-31 loss to Montenegro showed just how far these morality guardians are prepared to go to suppress what they see as the inappropriate freedom of expression. One of the morality guardians ran up to an Iranian spectator holding up a banner that read "Women, Life, Freedom" and knocked it out of her hand several times. This slogan is closely associated with the protests against the Iranian regime, which were sparked by the death of Jina Mahsa Amini in police custody last September. The incident during the match in Krakow saw several nearby spectators rush to the woman's defense.
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