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

Iranian-Australian protesters have been gathered outside Gold Coast Stadium for the last 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 – the Imperial flag of Iran before the revolution used by those who oppose the Iranian government – along with the Australian and Israeli flags and numerous signs of exiled prince Reza Pahlavi.

The support for Pahlavi is in keeping with the Iranian university students who have launched a wave of new protests across the country, calling for his return and for a mourning period for protesters who have been killed.

In front of them lay photographs of 762 faces “of tens of thousands murdered in two days” – “victims of Islamic regime terrorism” from which they believe US president Donald Trump and Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are saving them.

The protesters support the attacks by the US and Israel, which have triggered a wider war reverberating through the Middle East and been deemed a breach of international law by many legal experts.

“Because I guess if you listen to the propaganda, people are saying the war needs to stop, but everyone in Iran is saying please continue until they are completely destroyed,” said Asal Alamdari, a 39-year-old animal rights activist who has been 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’re going to thank them, and everyone in Iran is also thanking Trump and Bibi for doing this.

“We are echoing the voice of our compatriots within Iran. We are continuing to fight against Islamic Republic until they are completely overthrown.”

The group planned to enter the sold-out stadium to watch Iran’s women’s national team play the Matildas in their second Asian Cup group game and, although they were not allowed to take the “real flag”, they would keep chanting.

Alamdari said she had not been back to Iran in 16 years, and the lack of contact with family members in Iran amid the regime’s internet blackout was “so stressful”.

“I feel like that’s a psychological torture on us, but also on our families who are trapped inside the country,” she said. “We know that the country and the normal citizens are not under attack, but still it’s so irresponsible for the government to shut down all forms of connection.

“People inside Iran cannot even follow news and find out if they need to evacuate, if they need to seek shelter, nothing. So I think that just shows who we’re fighting against.”