DUBAI - Iranian authorities rerouted a flight bound for Dubai on Monday to prevent the wife and daughter of former national soccer team captain Ali Daei, who has supported anti-government protests, from leaving Iran, according to state media.

Mr Daei said his wife, Ms Mona Farrokhazari, and daughter were headed to Dubai “for a few days trip and back”.

But the Mahan Air flight they were on was made to land on Kish island in the Gulf, where they were told to disembark and return to Teheran.

“I really don’t know the reason for this. Did they want to arrest a terrorist? Had they been banned (from leaving), the passport police system should have shown it. No-one has given me an answer about this,” Mr Daei told the semi-official news agency Irna.

Mr Daei, 53, one of Iran’s most famous sports figures with 109 goals under his belt, had voiced support for anti-government protests sparked by the death of Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini, 22, while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

After that, his jewellery shop and restaurant in Teheran were shut down by the judiciary.

Hours after the incident involving Mr Daei’s wife and daughter, President Ebrahim Raisi said on Tuesday Iran would show “no mercy” towards its “hostile” opponents.

Addressing a crowd in Teheran, Mr Raisi accused “hypocrites, monarchists and all anti-revolutionary currents”.

“The embrace of the nation is open to all those who were lured,” he said during a funeral procession for unidentified soldiers who died during Iran’s eight-year war in the 1980s with neighbouring Iraq.

“The embrace of the nation is open to everyone, but we will show no mercy to those who are hostile,” he said.

People from across Iran’s social spectrum have joined one of the most sustained challenges to the country’s ruling theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, relying heavily on social media platforms - which the government is trying to shut down - to organise and spread news of demonstrations.

A service that could help Iranians circumvent Internet restrictions is Starlink, a satellite-based broadband service operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Mr Musk said on Monday that the company was getting close to having 100 active Starlink satellite receivers inside Iran.

More than 500 protesters, including 69 children, have been killed, while thousands others have been arrested, human rights activists say. Dozens of Iranian security personnel are also reported to have been killed.

Earlier in December, Iran executed two people linked to the protests.

Campaigners say about a dozen other defendants have been charged with offences that could see them receive the death penalty.

Iranian officials have accused hostile foreign powers, including the United States and some European countries, of stoking the unrest.

They aim “to derail the Islamic society from its high goals” by “spreading rumours and fracturing society”, said Mr Raisi.

But these countries are “wrong” to think that would achieve their goals, he said, calling their moves miscalculated.

Amid the concerted clampdown, Teheran said the arrests in Iran of citizens linked to Britain reflected its “destructive role” in the more than three months of unrest.

Asked by a reporter to comment on Sunday’s announcement of the arrest, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said: “Some countries, especially the one you mentioned, had an unconstructive role regarding the recent developments in Iran.

“Their role was totally destructive and incited the riots,” he said.

Rights group Hrana says about 18,500 people have been arrested during the unrest. Government officials say most have been released.

Besides arrests, the authorities have imposed travel bans on dozens of artists, lawyers, journalists and celebrities for endorsing the protests.

Iran’s troubled rial currency on Monday fell to a record low of 415,400 (S$13.40) against the US dollar, according to forex site Bonbast.com

It has lost about 24 per cent of its value since the protests began, as Iranians grappling with official inflation of about 50 per cent buy dollars and gold in an effort to protect their savings. REUTERS