Soccer: Iranian moderates and hardliner lock horns on the pitch
By James M. Dorsey
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani suffered in the run-up to crucial elections in early 2016 what amounted to at least a symbolic defeat when state-run television banned Iran’s most popular soccer program from running an interview with his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on soccer and politics.
Amid confusion about the reason for …
