Iran reroutes plane carrying soccer star's wife, blames UK over unrest

Iranian authorities rerouted a flight bound for Dubai on Monday and prevented the wife and daughter of former national soccer team captain Ali Daei, who has supported anti-government protests, from leaving the country, state media reported. Amid a concerted clampdown, Tehran also said the arrests in Iran of citizens linked to Britain reflected its "destructive role" in the more than three months of unrest. People from across Iran's social spectrum have joined one of the most sustained challenges to the country's ruling theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, relying heavily on social media platforms - which the government is trying to shut down - to organise and spread news of demonstrations. Meanwhile Daei's wife was banned from travelling abroad, Iran's judiciary said, after authorities ordered the Mahan Air plane she had been a passenger in to land on Iran's Kish Island in the Gulf. "I really don't know the reason for this. Did they want to arrest a terrorist?" Daei told semi-official news agency ISNA. After he voiced support for the protests on social media, authorities this month shut down a jewellery shop and a restaurant he owned. The protests were triggered by the Sept. 16 death in detention of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian held for wearing "inappropriate attire" under Iran's strict Islamic dress code for women.<br/>