The wife and daughter of Iranian soccer star player Ali Daei were detained after their flight to Dubai was ordered to land. Ali Daei is a vocal supporter of the anti-regime protests in Iran. Iranian authorities ordered the plane to land on Monday as they accused Daei and his family of participating in protests, as reported by Iranian state news agency IRNA.

Ali Daei’s wife and daughter were traveling to Dubai from Tehran when the pilot was instructed to land on Iran’s Kish Island. That is about one hundred miles outside of the city and they were removed from the flight. IRNA reports that they were allowed to return to Tehran.

Daei has been one of the most outspoken stars speaking out against the regime during the rise of the anti-regime protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. I mentioned him in a post I wrote earlier this month. The regime sealed a jewelry shop and restaurant he owns after he supported the calls of protesters for a three day strike during the beginning of December. Authorities have since shut down both of his businesses. The regime accuses Daei and his family of backing protesters and calling for strikes. One news agency reported that Daei’s was was banned from leaving Iran but illegally boarded the flight.

Neither Daei nor his family have publicly commented about his family’s ban on travel.

The regime is retaliating against high profile Iranians who support the protests to make examples of them. The World Cup soccer team players and their families were threatened that if they didn’t behave properly in Qatar, meaning no protests, their families would be imprisoned. Well-known actresses in Iran are being jailed to create headlines and intimidate protesters.

On December 25, an Iranian woman protester was jailed and sentenced to 10 years for encouraging prostitution by removing her headscarf during a protest. Mahsa Peyravi, 25, was arrested on October 17 after waving her headscarf above her head. Her sentence came from a much-feared judge, Abolqasem Salavati, Iran’s “Hanging Judge.” Peyravi, a resident of Tehran, was accused by Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court. The court found her guilty of encouaging prostitution and assembly and collusion. Salavati is head of Branch 15.

Peyravi was released on bail three days after her original arrest. She posted bail and her current verdict is preliminary. It may be appealed.

Many Western countries have begun to pressure the Islamic republic to end the violence against protesters. People from across the Middle East and the West have attended protests as women burn their headscarves since the death of Mahsa Amini. Her death in jail after being arrested and beaten by the morality police for wearing her headscarf incorrectly in public began the protests. Protesters are fed up from decades of social and political repression by the current regime, led for three decades by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is now 83 years old.

Team Biden has remained silent throughout the protests that have grown and spread across Iran since September. Joe Biden has not spoken out to offer a word of encouragement to the protesters as they are beaten, jailed, and some killed as they demand more freedom than they are currently allowed to have. Remember when America used to support those demanding human rights and freedom from brutal dictators? Barack Obama once said one of his regrets from his presidency was not supporting the Green Revolution in Iran. Apparently Biden is taking the same path now that Obama did during that time.