Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff
“On Monday, while visiting Australia to compete in a tournament, five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team were struggling in a hotel room over whether to defect and escape suppression back home. Their struggle ended when Naghmeh Danai, an Iranian-Australian and a migration agent, told them, ‘You will have more respect [here].’ … This minor tale of Iranians seeking to be honored on their merits reflects a major theme during the many years of protests in Iran: An authoritarian theocracy purposely set up in 1979 to replace a dynastic monarchy has come to rely on nepotism and crony networks to keep itself in power, denying opportunities for many Iranians and leading to corrupt, ineffective governance.” (03/10/26)