Iran will be no pushovers on the pitch, but attention remains on brutal regime

Protest: Iran players cover their country’s symbols with jackets before facing Senegal

- Malik Ouzia in Doha

WHEN Gianni Infantino last week urged football and politics to part ways once this World Cup begins, he must, presumably, have forgotten not only about FIFA's choice of host but also about the involvement of Iran.

Indeed, it tells you all you need to know about the list of political controversies following England's first Group B opponents into this tournament, that a meeting with the so-called Great Satan, the US, lands a fair way down the page.

First and foremost, there is the situation at home, where an oppressive regime is facing up, in quite brutal fashion, to its most significant challenge since the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid widespread demonstrations sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September. Amini had been arrested for allegedly breaking hijab laws, and hundreds of people have since died in the resulting protests, with thousands more detained. This week, Iran issued its first formal death sentence in relation to the unrest.

Then there is the situation abroad, where Western intelligence believes deadly Iranian drones have been used by Russia in its war on Ukraine, while the US last month accused Iran of being "directly engaged on the ground" in the conflict in Crimea.