Matildas v Iran scores, results, time, program, entertainment, tips, odds, weather, how to watch

Iranian-Australian protesters had been gathering outside Gold Coast Stadium for the past hour, chanting “Thank you Trump, thank you Bibi” for the US-Israeli rocket attacks that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The group held aloft the Lion and Sun Iranian flags, Iran’s imperial flag before the revolution, used by those opposed to the Iranian government, along with Australian and Israeli flags, as well as numerous signs of the exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi.

Support for Pahlavi is in line with Iranian university students who have launched a new wave of protests across the country, calling for Pahlavi’s return and a period of mourning for the killed protesters.

In front of them are photographs of 762 faces of “tens of thousands of people killed in two days”, “victims of the terror of the Islamic regime” that US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believe saved them.

Protesters support attacks by the United States and Israel that have triggered a broader war that has reverberated across the Middle East and are considered by many legal experts to be a violation of international law.

“Because if you listen to the propaganda, people say the war has to stop, but everyone in Iran says please continue until it is completely destroyed,” said Asal Alamari, a 39-year-old animal rights activist who has lived in Australia since 2010.

“Because even though it’s scary – we hear the bombs – we don’t care. We just want to be free. So we’ll thank them, and everyone in Iran thanks Trump and Bibi for doing it.”

“We echo the voice of our compatriots in Iran. We will continue to fight against them until the Islamic Republic is completely destroyed.”

The group planned to enter the sold-out stadium to watch the Iran women’s national team play the Matildas in their second group match of the Asian Cup, and continued chanting despite not being allowed to take the “real flag”.

Alamari said he had not returned to Iran in 16 years and that not being able to contact family members in Iran due to the regime’s internet blackout was “very stressful.”

“I think this is psychological torture for both us and our families stranded inside the country,” he said. “We know that the country and normal citizens are not under attack, but it is still highly irresponsible for the government to shut down all connections.

“People in Iran can’t follow the news, can’t find out if they need to evacuate, if they need shelter. So I think it shows who we’re fighting against.”