Iranian former tennis player Mansour Bahrami has opened up about the devastating impact of his nation\u2019s regime after the start of renewed conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday led to the emergence of a new conflict in the region, with further strikes on the country in recent days \u2014 while Iran has itself targeted several nations in the region with strikes.<\/p>\n
The strikes on Iran have killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation\u2019s supreme leader who has been the nation\u2019s Head of State since 1989.<\/p>\n
The regime in the nation has been widely criticised ever since the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s, with freedom of speech and expression widely suppressed within the country, with repeated crackdowns on democracy movements.<\/p>\n
Few in tennis know as much about the nation as Bahrami, now a widely-loved figure on the exhibition circuit and a two-time former champion on the ATP Tour as a doubles player.<\/p>\n
Bahrami was born in Iran in 1959, though he left the country for France shortly after the Islamic Revolution of the late 1970s, and became a joint Iranian-French national in 1989.<\/p>\n
The 66-year-old has remained an advocate for Iran and has publicly supported movements for democracy and freedom in the country, including the \u2018Women, Life, Freedom\u2019 protests in 2022, connected to the death of Mahsa Amini that September.<\/p>\n
And, in a new interview with L\u2019Equipe<\/a> following the start of the conflict this past weekend, Bahrami revealed that he has been unable to return to the country since his last visit six years ago.<\/p>\n Tennis News<\/p>\n Felix Auger-Aliassime update: Will he play Indian Wells after Dubai appearance?<\/a><\/p>\n Former British No 1 reveals he turned down coaching offers from Roger Federer AND Andy Murray<\/a><\/p>\n He said (translated from French): \u201cIt was February 7, 2020, and I returned to France the day before Covid.<\/p>\n \u201cSince then, I haven\u2019t gone back, unfortunately. Because at some point, if I went back there, I could have been in trouble. During the \u2018Women, Life, Freedom\u2019 movement, I spoke out in the media and on social networks.<\/p>\n \u201cI was told I had to keep quiet, otherwise there would be consequences. I kept quiet, for a while, but I miss my family, I miss Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to go every two years, just 3\u20134 days each time to see my family, and now it\u2019s been six years since I last went back. Because if I go back, I could be arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n Protests in Iran earlier this year brought the regime in the country back into the spotlight, and may have played a factor in the decision for the US and Israel to strike and force regime change.<\/p>\n Speaking further, Bahrami revealed shocking details about how the families of those killed in the protests earlier this year were forced to pay money to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cIn the past, I paid six tomans to get one dollar; now I have to pay 200,000 tomans to get one dollar.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can people live in these conditions? I can\u2019t understand it; I don\u2019t know how it\u2019s possible. It\u2019s horrible because people earn 150 euros a month.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the massacres six weeks ago, Iranians who went to retrieve their children\u2019s bodies were told they had to pay 200 or 300 euros for each bullet that entered their child\u2019s body. Otherwise, they wouldn\u2019t get the body.<\/p>\n \u201cBut how can they demand that? How can they pay up to 2,000 euros to get their children\u2019s bodies so they can bury them with dignity? It\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Though it is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things, the tennis world has been directly impacted by the outbreak of the conflict.<\/p>\n Several ATP Tour players and staff members are reportedly still stranded in Dubai<\/a>, where the ATP 500 Dubai Tennis Championships were held last week.<\/p>\n Tournament champion Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are among those players affected<\/a>, with flights from the city still suspended after the United Arab Emirates was targeted by Iran\u2019s strikes.<\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n