Iran's World Cup team could be in danger of 'retribution' upon returning home after losing to USA, says former CIA officer

• Iran's soccer team could be in danger of "retribution" upon returning home from the World Cup.
• That's according to former CIA officer Mike Baker.

Iran's World Cup players could be in danger of "retribution" upon returning to their home country after being eliminated from the tournament at the hands of the United States on Tuesday night.

That's according to Mike Baker, a former CIA covert operations officer, who told The New York Post that the team are being put in an "untenable situation."

"Given what we've seen from the Iranian regime, they've shown themselves to be brutal and there's no reason to believe they're going to suddenly become rational," he said.

Last week, Iran's players remained silent during their country's national anthem before the team's opening match against England, in an apparent show of support for anti-government protestors back home.

There have been widespread protests in Iran since the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being detained by morality police on suspicion of breaking the country's strict rules around head coverings.

Witnesses accused police officers of forcing her into a van and beating her.

After the match against England on November 21, Iranian officials threatened the families of the country's players with "violence and torture" if they continued to refuse to sing the anthem, or protest at all, while in Qatar, reported CNN.

Iran's players sang the anthem ahead of subsequent matches against Wales and the US, but Baker believes the team could still face fines or even arrest once they arrive home.

Kenneth R. Timmerman, an author and Iran expert, told The Post that the fate of the Iranian players had already been decided prior to the match against the US "because they've already committed that sin" of not singing the national anthem.

"I would be afraid of arrest," Timmerman said. "Even if they had won, they would have been arrested, soundly beaten and warned, 'Don't ever do this again.'"

As of Monday, at least 451 people have been killed, including 64 children, during clashes with authorities in Iran, while well over 18,000 have been arrested, according to nonprofit group Human Rights Activists in Iran.