Iranian Americans plan protests and watch parties ahead of team’s World Cup opener

Iranian Americans are torn over Iran’s participation in the World Cup, as some community members plan to watch Monday’s match and others plan to protest outside the stadium where the team will play.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Iranian Americans are torn over Iran’s participation in the World Cup, as some community members plan to watch Monday’s match and others plan to protest outside the stadium where the team will play.

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A rally is planned for outside the stadium near Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside Iran. Many of Southern California’s Iranian Americans arrived after the Islamic Revolution, and a hub of eateries, shops and markets about 10 miles from the stadium is known as “Tehrangeles.”

Rally participants plan to wear lion-and-sun T-shirts and wave the country’s flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in protest of Tehran’s deadly January crackdown on dissent.