I'm John Datchew with Professor Brenda Schaefer, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

Her new book, Iran is more than Persia, ethnic politics in Iran.

Soccer, football, the World Cup, a young man named Nasir Nasir Azadane spoke out in favor of the protest for women's rights in his home country while he was participating in the World Cup.

We're told now that he is detained and possibly will be condemned to death for his enmity with God.

I think that's the accusation they make. That's the

English translation of the crime. We already know that young people have been executed brutally by the

regime for enmity with God in these round protests. But soccer football. Brenda, what is the

tractor soccer team and who are the tractor fans?

Right.

So ethnic politics really plays out in the soccer field in Iran.

I mean, it's actually pretty logical because it's, you know, the soccer stadium is a place where 30,000 people can come together without a permit,

you know, without any sort of planning, without sending out invitations.

So for years, soccer stadium of tractor, for years, their name was tractor Tabriz, the name of the team.

Tabriz is the largest Azerbaijani populated city in Iran.

They changed their name to Tractor Azerbaijan, which I think is significant,

that it's not just the name of a city, but a land.

And for at least 15 years, the soccer stadium has been a real arena of ethnic protests,

ethnic politics in Iran and chanting and calling, you know, to bring in allow women

into the stadium.

But all done in the case of tractor in the Azerbaijani language,

Azerbaijani flags, burning of Armenian flags.

I mean, it's really an arena of ethnic politics.

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