Lionel Messi's doppelgänger causes chaos in Iran

Reza Parastesh looks so much like his sporting hero Lionel Messi that it almost landed him in jail for disrupting public order in the western Iranian city of Hamedan this week.

He caused a huge stir when he walked the streets last week.

So many people came out to take selfies with student Parastesh over the weekend that police rushed him into a station and impounded his car to stop the chaos and clear traffic.

The resemblance is so uncanny that Eurosport UK reportedly used his photo by accident on Twitter recently when talking about the real Messi.

Check out his images below: 

Jam Jam in the interview that you can see online مصاحبه در جام جم كه ميتونين در جام جم انلاين مشاهده كنيد #messiirani #messi #messiiranian #barcelona #jamejam http://jamejamonline.ir/sport/2826474931875352180

A post shared by riza parastish ( Messi Irani ) (@rezaparastesh_) on May 2, 2017 at 1:01am PDT

مصاحبه با خبر گزاري مهر توسط خانم همتي كه مي تونين داخل سايت بخونين http://yon.ir/k9Avf اضافه وزن به اون شكل نيست 😂😊. #مسي #مسي_ايراني #خبرگزاري_مهر #messo #messiirani #

A post shared by riza parastish ( Messi Irani ) (@rezaparastesh_) on Apr 25, 2017 at 7:08am PDT

special tanx for: photography: @masoodzakeri #messi #messiiran #messiiran10 #rezaparastesh #leomessi #badalemessi

A post shared by riza parastish ( Messi Irani ) (@rezaparastesh_) on Jan 11, 2017 at 10:27am PST

(Photo: Getty Images)