Dutch Football Striker Lokadia Leaves Iran Amid Unrest

Jürgen Lokadia, the Dutch striker of Tehran’s Persepolis football team, left Iran on December 19, official media report.

IRNA news agency said that Lokadia did not attend the team's training on December18 without notice and left the country on the morning of the next day.

Government media have claimed that Lokadia had mentioned family issues in the past days, which some journalists rejected in social media posts.

Locadia joined Persepolis earlier this year. At the start of the nationwide protests that has swept Iran for three months, the football player expressed sympathy for the families of the victims of the brutal state crackdown on the demonstrations.

At least 469 people have been killed by security forces, including 63 children, the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group says. More than 18,000 people have reportedly been arrested, including foreign nationals.

The Netherlands and other European countries have urged their nationals to leave Iran and advised against all travel to the country.

Western countries have repeatedly accused Iran of taking dual and foreign nationals hostage for the sole purpose of using them in prisoner swaps.