BAGHDAD (AP) — Team U. S. over Iran at the World Cup on Tuesday was closely watched in the Middle East, where the two nations have been embroiled in a Cold War for more than 4 decades and many blame one or either for the region. .
Iran’s critics say it has fomented war and unrest in the Arab world by supporting hardline armed teams in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Palestinian territories. His followers see him as the leader of an “axis of resistance” opposed to what they see. such as US imperialism, corrupt Arab leaders and Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.
The rift is especially intense in Lebanon and Iraq, where heavily armed political factions subsidized through Iran compete for political influence with more Western-oriented opponents. In those countries, many of whom Iran or the United States want help, if only on the ground.
Others wanted because of a plague in their two houses.
“Both are adversaries of Iraq and have played a negative role in the country,” Haydar Shakar said in central Baghdad, where a café displayed the flags of both countries hanging outside. “It’s a sports tournament, and they’re both in it. Everything is for us.
A widely circulated meme about Tuesday’s U. S. -Iran standoff joked that “it’s the first time they’re going to play outside of Lebanon. “Another Twitter user joked that whoever wins the organization’s level “takes Iraq. “
Hezbollah, subsidized through Iran, the only armed organization that retained its weapons after the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990. He says his weapons are needed to protect the country opposed to Israel and partly blames Lebanon’s economic crisis on U. S. sanctions. Opponents denounce Hezbollah as an “Iranian occupation,” while many Lebanese accuse the United States and Iran of meddling in their internal affairs.
In Iraq, the 2003 U. S. -led invasion led to years of intense violence and sectarian strife, and Iranian-backed political factions and militias largely filled the vacuum. While U. S. forces and Iranian-backed militias have found themselves in the same vein at odds with the Islamic State group, they have exchanged fire several times since its defeat.
Both Lebanon and Iraq have faced years of political stalemate, with the dividing line between Iran’s allies and opponents.
In Yemen, the Iran-aligned Houthi defense force captured the capital and much of the country’s north in 2014. Since then, the Houthis have been at war with a variety of factions subsidized through Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two U. S. allies.
During Syria’s civil war, Iran subsidized President Bashar Assad’s government that opposes the rebels, some subsidized through the West. In the Palestinian territories, it supports Hamas and Islamic Jihad, militant factions that recognize Israel and have carried out dozens of attacks over the years.
Interviews with football enthusiasts in Beirut and Baghdad combined feelings about the match.
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah hub, youths draped in Iranian flags gathered at a café carrying a flag reading “Death to America” to watch the game.
“We are America in football, politics and everything else,” Nehme said. “God is with Lebanon and Iran. “
Across town, on the waterfront, Beirut resident Aline Noueyhed said: “Of course, I am not with Iran after all the mistakes they have caused. However, he added that the United States “is not helping us one hundred percent. “
The post-match reaction on the streets of Beirut after the U. S. The U. S. beat Iran 1-0, eliminating them from the tournament and advancing to the knockout round, much more muted than after last day’s win against Brazil, a fan favorite in Lebanon. about Switzerland.
In Baghdad, Ali Fadel applauded Iran “is a neighboring country, an Asian country. “
“There are many between us and them,” he added.
In Arbil, in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Zainab Fakhri, 27, called on the United States to defeat Iran “to punish the Iranian regime that oppressed the women’s revolution,” referring to recent protests there.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave wracked by Hamas-led war and under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since 2007, Maximo appeared to inspire Iran and was discouraged when he lost.
“We stand with Iran, win or lose, because it is the Islamic State that supports the Gaza Strip and its resistance,” Wasim al-Hendi said.
Regional politics loomed over the final game, at the 1998 World Cup, when Iran beat the United States 2-1, eliminating them from the tournament. This happened less than two decades after Iran’s Islamic Revolution toppled the U. S. -backed shah and protesters overran the U. S. embassy, sparking a protracted hostage crisis.
French police were present at the Lyon stadium that year, but it was not necessary. The organizations posed together in a photo of the organization and Iranian players even brought white roses to their opponents.
In this year’s match, loyalties were blurred through internal protests that gripped Iran, with some Iranians brazenly entrenching themselves in opposition to their own team. The players refused to sing their national anthem before their opening match, in what was perceived as an expression of sympathy for the protests, but reversed course and sang ahead of their next match.
In some parts of Tehran, others chanted “Death to the dictator!”after the match, although it was beyond the local time.
Danyel Reiche, a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar who has researched sports policy, said World Cup fans are necessarily an indicator of political affiliation, even in deeply divided countries.
Local sports in Lebanon are “highly politicized,” and all major basketball and clubs have political and sectarian affiliations, he said. But when it comes to the World Cup, where Lebanon never qualified to play, enthusiasts cling to various teams.
This is the region, where you can discover enthusiasts dressed in Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo shirts from Gaza to Afghanistan.
“This is one of the few spaces where other people have the freedom to live in a country they simply love and not in the country where they believe they have a legal responsibility to affiliate with it,” Reiche said.
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Associated Press editors Fadi Tawil and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Irbil, Iraq, Fares Akram in Gaza, Gaza Strip and Joseph Krauss in Ottawa contributed to this report.
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