Homeland Terrorizes Memory of Iranian National Hero

Episode four of season three of Showtime’s critically acclaimed national security thriller Homeland begins with the CIA on the hunt for Majid Javadi (played by Iranian-American actor Shaun Toub), an Iranian terrorist linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who apparently ordered the attack on CIA headquarters at Langley at the end of the season two.

In last week’s episode, the veiled Iran analyst Fara (played by Iranian-American actor Nazanin Boniadi) is tasked by CIA chief Saul to trace bank statements connected to Iran. She uncovers a money laundering trail that leads to Venezuela, where it is revealed Javadi owns a soccer team which he uses, along with a Venezuelan stadium, as a front for laundering and embezzling millions of dollars from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Here is Fara’s exchange with Saul as she explains her discovery:

Fara: "The club is structured in a way to shield the identity of the majority shareholder."

Saul: "Do you have any candidate?"

Fara: "I do, but it doesn't make sense."

Saul: "Why?”

Fara: "His name is Nasser Hejazi."

Saul: "Say that again?" (Seemingly shocked).

Fara: "Naser Hejazi. Do you know him?"

Saul: "I know he played goal keeper for Iran's 1978 world cup team. He is a legend there."

Fara: "But that is not the same Naser Hejazi."

Saul: "Why not?"

Fara: "Because he is dead."

Homeland's invocation of Nasser Hejazi startled me, because as a lover of Iranian soccer, I know he transcends simple legend. For many Iranians, Hejazi is a symbol of Iran’s modern journey towards democracy. 

Hejazi was born in Tehran in 1949, and showed tremendous early athletic prowess. He joined the Iranian national youth basketball team at the age of 16 and also began playing goal keeper for his high school’s soccer team. At the age of 18, Hejazi signed his first professional contract with the famous club team Taj (Now known as Esteghlal FC).

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Hejazi played goalkeeper for Iran’s Olympic and World Cup qualifying teams and became known as the "Eagle of Asia" for his soaring abilities between the nets of the goals posts. During his prime, Hejazi was considered the finest goal keeper in Asia. He is synonymous with Esteghlal FC as he played goalie for the club for two decades and served as the club’s coach and board member.

Hejazi dedicated his life to Iranian soccer. When he wasn’t winning the hearts of his compatriots on the field, he was a symbol of quiet defiance against mismanagement and policies of the government.

Hejazi leveled emotional criticicism of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's economic subsidies: “when I observe the dire condition of people, my health deteriorates,” he said. He blamed the government for the country's dire brain drain. “I want to ask the government what is more important to them, implementing subsides or preventing brain drain? Of course there has to be brain drain in Iran, or else the people who achieve their jobs through force and cronyism would be stuck at home,” he said caustically.

Hejazi attempted to run for president in 2005 but was disqualified by Iran’s vetting body, the Guardian Council, for his lack of experience in politics, and reportedly supported former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as well as 2009 presidential candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi.

Towards the end of his life, when he was diagnosed with lung cancer, a journalist asked Hejazi, what he wished for the youth of Iran. Then undergoing chemotherapy, Hejazi repied: “I wish for their health, and I have told them before, I am hopeful they finish their studies because in this new world, the 21^st century, they need to learn English, some foreign language as well as computer skills.”

After having a stroke, Hejazi was hospitalized at Kasra Hospital in Tehran and died in May 2011 at the age of 63. Hundreds of people gathered in front of the hospital to pray for their beloved hero. Hejazi’s life and passing is reminiscent of Iran's seminal populist sports hero, world champion wrestler Gholam Reza Takhti.

Hejazi’s burial proved sensitive for the government. Videos taken during his funeral ceremony at Behesht Zahra cemetery show people chanting opposition slogans tied to the 2009 presidential election. Even then president Ahmadinejad, who had been skewered publicly by Hejazi, was forced to pay tribute the soccer great.

During a public funeral ceremony held in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, over 20,000 fans and supporters paid tribute to Hejazi. “Everyone is crying for Nasser, everyone loved him, God-willing we can all learn how to live like Nasser Hejazi,” lamented a close friend of Hejazi.  Another mourner close to the soccer great said one of the main chants at the stadium that day included, “Sir Nasser of the people, Hejazi man of the people!”

A touching clip of a procession of both men and women making their way down one of the tunnels of Azadi stadium, with security forces looking on, reflects the true legacy that Hejazi left behind. Chants of “Goodbye Nasser Hejazi,” and “Hejazi is a role-model for humanity,” rang throughout the tunnel. 

This past August Hejazi's family held a ceremony which was attended by former Iranian sports figures, actors, as well as political figures such as former president Mohammed Khatami, who spoke at the event.

It is impossible to compare Hejazi with an American athlete due to the stark differences in the political, cultural, and social contexts, but imagine athletes such as Jim Brown, Jesse Owens, Pat Tillman, and Muhammad Ali being linked to terrorism on an Iranian television program. If we limit the comparison to a strict popularity contest, Hejazi would compare to American athletes such as Joe Montana, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. 

I, for one, am saddened by how casually a major American television show chose to invoke one of Iran's modern legends, a hero to millions, linking him lazily and pointlessly to terrorism. I suspect some Iranians may be gladdened that at least this way many who had no idea about Iran's famous goal-keeper will have now heard his name. But this is the logic of those who truly did not understand who Nasser Hejazi really was.   

In one of his last interviews, Hejazi quoted Gandhi, “My pain is not loneliness but it’s the death of a nation who considers poverty as contentment, incompetency as patience, and with a smile on lips, consider this naivety as destiny.”

In writing this, my purpose was not raise the tired debate about the demonization of Iran in Hollywood films and the Iranian government’s reaction towards its image on the American big screen. Such portrayals are inevitably after 34 years of bitter, ruptured relations. Iranian television runs its own share of hyper-stereotypical images of the United States. But for Iranians in the American diaspora, Hejazi's brief debut on US television as a terrorist in name, is a sad reminder of two countries who cannot even appreciate one another at the level of sport.