Iran's most acclaimed soccer icon, Ali Daei, expressed shock and disbelief after the intelligence apparatus forced a civilian aircraft carrying his family to return halfway through its journey, blocking their departure from the country.  

The Dubai-bound flight was ordered to land on the southern Iranian Kish Island on Monday. Authorities allowed the journey's resumption only after removing Daei's wife and daughter, according to multiple state-linked media outlets.  

The reports cited unnamed judiciary officials as saying that Daei's wife, Mona Farrokh-Azari, was banned over her solidarity with "riots," a reference to an anti-government protest movement that has rocked Iran since mid-September. More specifically, they noted that the soccer legend's wife had joined a three-day nationwide business strike earlier this month by closing her jewelry shop in the capital, Tehran. The Iranian judiciary had already sealed the shop as well as a restaurant linked to Daei over the civil disobedience campaign.  

A widely popular figure in Iran, the outspoken Daei has been directing criticism toward the government repression in response to the unrest, which according to a leading rights monitor has left at least 507 people dead.