Death to the Dictator Slogan at Azadi Stadium; Intense Clashes and Arrests

Reports indicate intense clashes between supporters of the Tractor Sazi football team from Tabriz and police forces during the match on Friday, August 19, between Tractor Sazi and Esteghlal at Azadi Stadium in Tehran. A video has been shared on social media, uploaded today, showing the collective chant of 'Death to the Dictator' from the spectators at Azadi Stadium. The video is described as related to the football match between Esteghlal Tehran and Tractor Sazi Tabriz at Azadi Stadium. Other videos also capture chants such as 'This is the Zionist regime' and 'Tank, cannon, firecracker, the clerics must disappear.' The website Varzesh 3 reported that the atmosphere in the stands was very tense, with loud horns and chants, while television viewers were unable to accurately perceive the stadium's atmosphere due to the noise. This situation escalated when chants from both sides intensified and became unbroadcastable. According to the website Program 90, physical clashes between fans of both teams outside the stadium resulted in injuries to several fans, and some were arrested by special forces. The report adds that Tractor Sazi fans, particularly their leaders, were upset with the police's actions, believing that many were severely injured. Currently, about 65,000 people are present in the stadium, with only three sections left empty to separate the fans. The match between Esteghlal Tehran and Tractor Sazi Tabriz began at 20:30 tonight as part of the third week of the Premier League, resulting in a 3-0 victory for Esteghlal. The IRNA news agency reported that allocating only 10% of Azadi Stadium's capacity to Tractor Sazi fans led to clashes with police as they attempted to remove barriers between themselves and Esteghlal fans, resulting in broken seats and ticket booth glass. The Mehr news agency also reported on the 'intense clashes' between Tractor Sazi fans and police, stating that the fans clashed physically due to insufficient seating capacity for their team. Mehr added that some fans began to destroy seats in the first and second tiers and threw them at each other, while throwing objects like stones and water bottles onto the field led to cleaning officials collecting them. The day before, a controversial match between Persepolis and Esteghlal Khuzestan was held under heavy security measures, resulting in injuries to several fans and special forces officers who were transferred to the hospital. The Persepolis bus faced stone-throwing and glass shattering from the airport to the hotel, and upon entering the stadium, it was attacked by some spectators, forcing it to enter through another gate. Security measures were so strict that police forces were estimated to number over a thousand.