Article by Remus Dinu – Published on Monday, 02 March 2026 22:23 / Updated on Tuesday, 03 March 2026 00:25
Claudiu Ionescu, 42 years old ex-midfielder at Rapid, Gloria Buzău, Timișoara or Poli Iași, who at one point also reached the court of FCSB, reports for the readers of Gazeta Sporturilor how his experience in Iranwhere he played in 2013 for Foolad, a traditional club from the province of Khuzestan, double champion of the country, which also played in the first Iranian league at the time.
What was daily life like for an outsider in Iran, the theocratic Middle Eastern republic under air attack by the United States and Israel?
👉On Saturday, the US and Israel launched a military attack on Iran, called “Operation Epic Fury”, with the aim of destroying parts of the military and nuclear capabilities held by the state with the capital in Tehran.
For a more edifying picture, Gazeta got in touch with one of the few Romanian footballers who played in the championship in Iran, former midfielder Claudiu Ionescu, 42 years old, the last time a coach in League 3, at CS Ștefănești.
Claudiu Ionescu, at a Rapidu old-boys match. He was part of the 2003 title / Photo source: Facebook @ FC Rapid
In the third day of war, with leader Ali Khamenei killed in Saturday's bombings and a regime that has launched a furious counter-offensive in the past 48 hours, Iran is continuing its revenge plan announced with the removal of the ayatollah.
In recent days, in response to the American-Israeli raids, the regime in Tehran has launched a wave of missiles aimed at Israel and other countries in the Middle East, announcing that it firmly rejects peace negotiations with the United States and any peaceful resolution of the conflict.
Below, the perspective on life in Iran of a Romanian athlete who stepped there more than a decade ago.
Claudiu Ionescu, footballer who started his career at Rapid, he donned the shirt of Foolad 13 years ago and only made 5 appearances for the club founded in 1971. He now explains why he had to leave the group in Ahvaz, 793 kilometers away from the capital Tehran, after only a few months in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The stories of Claudiu Ionescu, the Romanian who played in Iran: “The wife went out alone in the market, she was told that it would be better not to leave the house”
Beyond football and the actual sports experience, the adventure in Iran also had a delicate personal dimension for Buzoian Claudiu Ionescu. The former midfielder speaks openly about the decisive moment in his decision to leave Ahvaz: a sensitive episode happened on the street, experienced by his wife, which changed his perspective and determined him to return to the country.
“I stayed for about half a year, then I decided to come back to the country. It was super OK, I had no problems, only I didn't know that there women are not allowed to travel alone.
My wife and child had come with me, we had, at one point, a match somewhere in Tehran, it was quite far. She went out to the market and it was an unpleasant situation, I didn't know that she shouldn't leave the house alone. He was told that he had better stay out of the house. We were told not to happen again, so we later decided to return to the country.
(…) There were two such episodes, and after the second one we decided to return to the country. And on the second we were informed that it should not come out. We didn't know, there was a car that followed her…
The problem was with the child (b.r. – for safety reasons, they made the decision to leave Iran). We were thinking about Alex, our boy, who was around three or four years old at the time, meanwhile the little girl was born. You realize, he was a child and you had no way of knowing what could happen to his mother..“, recalled Claudiu Ionescu, on the phone with the GSP reporter.
“However, while I was there, I did not see a woman beaten or ill-treated. Indeed, they did not go out without a man, they had to be accompanied by a man when they walked.
Otherwise, we had no problems and we met OK people there, who lived their lives quietly, in a religious balance, with their free moments that they had… Indeed, there was a censorship in society, but at their house it was OK. We met, joked, laughed, there were good times”, added Claudiu Ionescu.
👉 In Iran, the rules regarding the presence of women in public space are strictly regulated, and social norms impose clear restrictions on clothing and unaccompanied movement.
I went to Tehran for matches… It was a city with very good, big roads. It is very similar to Bucharest, because the blocks are like ours, but much better arranged.
– Claudiu Ionescu
Claudiu Ionescu, on the left, received the shirt with number 10 for the group from Iran
“Extraordinary conditions in Iran, above Romania in all respects”
Football-wise, Ionescu compared the conditions he benefited from in his short experience in Iran with those he was familiar with in Romania:
“On the football side… As a sports infrastructure, Iran surpassed everything in our country, in all respects. Because there were university campuses, sports campuses, where there were training fields, at least 4-5, they were simply academies that could carry out their activities on those campuses.
Our main stadium had somewhere close to 50,000 seats and a new stadium was already being built at the time. There were synthetic pitches, Olympic-sized swimming pools with gymnasiums. They had extraordinary conditions. As proof, they qualify competition after competition at the World Championship, while we…
Football was of good quality then. Maybe not as tactical as ours was, but from an individual point of view, commitment, attitude, it was a tougher, more energetic championship”, said Claudiu Ionescu.
“At that time, in their championship you were allowed to have three foreigners in the team, from anywhere in the world, plus one Asian. At that time, Foolad was me and two more Brazilians,” he added.
👉 Besides Ionescu, two other Romanians have also played in Iranaccording to existing data: former Dynamo player Iosif Tâlvan, registered at Pegah Gilan in 2004, and a less famous name, Cosmin Vancea, former striker at Gaz Metan and Târgu Mureș. He performed in 2013 for the Saipa team.
“When they entered Ramadan, we were careful not to eat in front of them”
The Romanian tells that he felt the cultural differences especially through the social norms imposed in the public space, but he emphasizes that, in everyday relationships, people were open, respectful and anchored in a balance dictated by tradition and religion.
The ex-rapidist says he did not feel constrained in any way:
“We didn't have any problems, we weren't forced to do the prayers they did. No! They treated us right and we obeyed their laws.
When Ramadan entered, we were careful not to eat in front of them, not to drink in front of them. But nothing was discussed about religion”, said Claudiu Ionescu, in an interview given to Gazeta Sporturilor on Monday evening.
