Shakira speaks up for young Iranian football player on death row

Shakira, Shakira!

Prominent figures across the globe are speaking up about the plight of Iranians, and the latest to do so is music sensation Shakira. On Saturday, Shakira tweeted her support for Amir Nasr-Azadani, a young Iranian football player sentenced to death after protesting.

Twenty-six year old Nasr-Azadani was arrested in Isfahan last month, after taking part in a protest for women’s rights. Iranian authorities have accused him and two others of being involved in the murders of three members of Iran’s security forces. However, sources for IranWire, a pro-opposition outlet, said that Nasr-Azadani was never in the area where the authorities were killed. Nasr-Azadani is accused of moharebeh, or “waging war against god.”

On Saturday, Shakira tweeted…

“The fight for equality and human rights should be praised not punished, I stand in solidarity with Amir Nasr.”

The fight for equality and human rights should be praised not punished, I stand in solidarity with Amir Nasr. https://t.co/QkqC9fgymX

La lucha por la igualdad y los derechos humanos debe de ser reconocida y no castigada. Me uno en solidaridad con Amir Nasr.

— Shakira (@shakira) December 17, 2022

On Sunday night, Shakira posted another tweet about Nasr-Azadani, during the World Cup final. Shakira said she hoped that the players on the field, and the whole world, remembered that Nasr-Azadami was on death row only for speaking out for women’s rights. She went on to say, “I hope there’s more than a minute of silence in our hearts to remember what’s important and more than one voice united screaming for what is just.

Shakira is not the only global figure to call out Iran’s brutality against protesters. Last week, the global football players’ union FIFPRO took to Twitter yesterday to announce that it was “shocked and sickened” that Nasr-Azadani was facing execution.

Iran’s latest uprising began after the country’s so-called “morality police” brutally killed a young girl, Mahsa Amini, for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Since then, rage has spread like wildfire throughout the country ruled by a theocratic dictatorship. The situation has been brutal, with at least 448 people killed as of November 26. A growing number of people have been formally executed in relation to the protests so far.

Last month, Iranian forces killed a man for celebrating the national football team’s elimination from the World Cup. Iran also arrested a Kurdish football player, Voria Ghafouri, who was later released.

Even though Iran’s authorities are brutal, figures like Shakira are making it clear that the world sees Iranians’ plight.