Iranian footballer Ramin Rezaeian has been accused by Iranian-American actress Jewell Farshad of sending her repeated requests for explicit videos and asking whether she would bring other women to a meeting in Paris.
Farshad, who played Penelope in the third season of the HBO drama Euphoria, said the exchange began with apparently friendly messages during Iran’s World Cup campaign before becoming increasingly sexual. She told the Daily Mail that Rezaeian eventually asked her about relationships with women and requested a video of her masturbating.
The actress said she initially treated his attention as a flattering approach from a well-known player. Rezaeian first asked where she lived and described her as “sexy”, before suggesting they meet in Paris.
According to Farshad, the tone then changed abruptly.
“Instead of cute, flirty messages… it turned into: ‘Do you like having sex with girls? Have you been with girls? And can you send me a video of you playing with yourself?’” she said.
She said she stopped replying in the hope that he would recognise she was uncomfortable. However, she alleged that the messages continued, sometimes late at night, with further questions about her sexual history and whether she had taken part in group sex.
Farshad said she repeatedly refused to send material, telling him: “I’m an actor, I’m a model. I don’t want anything to come out.”
The actress, who lives in Los Angeles and was formerly Miss California, said she felt under enough pressure to consider meeting Rezaeian. She changed her mind after searching for information about him and finding what she described as troubling reports about alleged inappropriate behaviour involving women and girls.
She later alleged that the footballer continued contacting her from a private Instagram account after returning to Iran. Farshad said she noticed messages being removed and that the account repeatedly switched on Instagram’s disappearing-message function.
“That’s when I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t think it’s safe for me to speak to him anymore,’” she said.
Farshad also claimed that the proposed trip was not intended to be a private meeting between the pair. She said Rezaeian asked whether she would be comfortable involving other women and that she became concerned he expected her to help recruit them.
The actress said she had seen photographs linking Rezaeian to Iranian influencer Sasha Sobhani, the son of a former senior official in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. She claimed images of the pair near a private aircraft and at a property in Saint-Tropez matched locations shown on Rezaeian’s private account.
Farshad described the circumstances as resembling an “Epstein-esque” gathering, but did not provide evidence that anyone had been trafficked or that a criminal offence had taken place. The allegations have not been independently verified.
Reports circulating in Persian-language media have also noted that some images used online to illustrate the claims were designed graphics rather than authenticated copies of the alleged messages. No police investigation, court proceedings or official inquiry has been publicly identified in connection with Farshad’s account.
Rezaeian, who is a member of Iran’s national team, has not issued a public response to the allegations. The Daily Mail said he had been approached for comment.
The defender was included in Iran’s 2026 World Cup squad and has been a prominent international player for several years. He scored Iran’s second goal in the team’s 2-0 victory over Wales at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a result that gave the side its first win against European opposition at the tournament.
Farshad has framed the dispute as part of a wider argument about the contrast between Iran’s public morality and the private conduct of influential men. She said she was born in Iran and lived there until the age of 18, and described her experience of the country’s restrictions on women as traumatic.
She questioned why a woman could face punishment for showing her hair while a prominent male footballer was, in her view, protected by the system.
Rezaeian has appeared at pro-government events and has publicly spoken about his loyalty to Iran’s national side. Farshad said that public image was difficult to reconcile with the behaviour she alleges in private.
After posting about the exchange on Instagram, Farshad said she was subjected to a wave of abuse and threats. She claimed a Telegram channel was created accusing her of being a Mossad agent and falsely suggesting that a religious decree had been issued against her.
She also alleged that men and women sent messages telling her to harm herself and defending Rezaeian. Farshad said several other women later contacted her claiming they too had received inappropriate messages from the footballer, including requests for explicit photographs.
Those claims have likewise not been independently confirmed.
Farshad said she decided to speak publicly because she believed the controversy extended beyond an alleged exchange between two public figures.
“I didn’t want this to become a story about an actress and a football player,” she said. “I’m speaking because Iranian women have spent generations being told to stay quiet.”
The allegations remain unproven, and no formal findings have been made against Rezaeian.
