Iran’s national football team given public send-off ahead of FIFA World Cup

Thousands gathered in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday for a state send-off for the national football team due to take part in the FIFA World Cup next month.

Participants, mostly government supporters, waved Iranian flags and held pictures of new supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, amid chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.

“This is the best farewell ceremony in the last four World Cups. The players stand…