sport news USA presser cut short after Iranian reporter calls on press officer to 'respect ... trends now Team USA press conference is cut short after testy exchange, as Iranian reporter calls on team's press officer to 'respect international media' after US Soccer posted altered Iranian flag in solidarity with protesters Published: 22:37 GMT, 27 November 2022 | Updated: 22:40 GMT, 27 November 2022 Viewcomments The USMNT's Sunday press conference was abruptly cut short after an Iranian journalist called on the team's director of communications to 'respect international media' in a testy exchange. The remark comes after team USA's official social media accounts displayed Iran's national flag without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, to show 'our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours.' The absence of the emblem comes as monthslong demonstrations have challenged Iran's government since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country's morality police. And the decision from the US Soccer Federation seems to have severely angered the Iranian government, with them calling for FIFA to kick the USA out of the World Cup and be banned for 10 games. 'I just want to point it out that the media officer of US national soccer team should respect international media,' journalist Shervin Taheri said. 'This is the World Cup. This is not the MLS Cup. Thank you very much.' Walker Zimmerman said the team is 'huge supporters' of women's rights during the session "You should respect international media, this is World Cup this is not MLS Cup."USA's press conference comes to an abrupt end after only one question was allowed by an Iranian journalist#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/rJ0rECcF3c — Football Daily (@footballdaily) November 27, 2022 The remarks prompted the team's director of communications, Michael Kammarman, to end the availability with Tim Ream and Walker Zimmerman immediately after. However, Kammarman explained the rationale for the decision to remove the emblems earlier in the session. 'The intent of the post was to show support for women's rights,' he said. It was meant to be a moment. We made the post at the time. All the other representations of the flag remain consistent and will continue to.' The symbol was later returned to the flag on the USA website, with a tweet and Instagram post containing the altered flag deleted. Nonetheless, both Zimmerman and Ream made it clear that they stand for women's rights earlier in the session. 'We're huge supporters of women's rights,' Zimmerman said. 'And I know the post, that got mentioned. We didn't know anything about the post, but we are supporters of women's rights. 'We always have been. We are focused a lot on Tuesday from the sporting side as well, you know. So you mentioned it as a distraction. I think this is such a focused group on the task at hand. But at the same time, we empathize and we are firm believers in women's rights and support them.' The protests in Iran have seen at least 450 people killed since they started, as well as over 18,000 arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, an advocacy group following the demonstrations. Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Safiollah Fagahanpour, an adviser to the Iranian Football Federation, saying that the 'measures taken regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran flag are against the law' of FIFA competitions. 'They must be held responsible,' Fagahanpour said. 'Obviously they want to affect Iran´s performance against the US by doing this.' The Islamic Republic emblem, designed in 1980, is four curves with a sword between them. It represents the Islamic saying: 'There is no god but God.' It also resembles a tulip or lotus. At the top and the bottom of the flag, there are 22 inscriptions of 'God is Great' as well, which honors the date on the Persian calendar when the Islamic Revolution took hold. The US will play Iran Tuesday, and need a win to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility