Iran’s Parliament Refrains from Approving Ban on Competitions with Israeli Athletes

At the request of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, one article from an anti-Israeli bill on the agenda of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, which would have prohibited any competition with Israeli athletes, was removed.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Islamic Consultative Assembly was in the process of approving a controversial 14-article bill, one of which would have banned holding any sports competitions against Israeli rivals, but this article has now been removed following a request from the Ministry of Sports and Youth. Approving this bill with the mentioned article could have had many international consequences for Iran.

Previously, officials of the Islamic Republic regime, while denying any intentional losses and injuries to athletes to avoid facing Israeli competitors, had also claimed in domestic media that Iranian athletes voluntarily and willingly refrain from competing with Israeli rivals.

Despite this concealment, incidents such as the forced withdrawal of Saeid Mollaei to avoid facing an Israeli athlete and his subsequent whistleblowing on the matter resulted in Iran’s exclusion from all international judo competitions.

This action was supported by the U.S. State Department, and Morgan Ortagus wrote in a tweet: “Participation in sports competitions should not be accompanied by fear of retaliation from cowardly thugs.”

Source: Voice of America