Iran lifts ban on American wrestling team after retaliating against Donald Trump's ban
Iranian media are saying the country has lifted a ban on U.S. wrestlers, allowing them to take part in the Freestyle World Cup later this month in the Iranian city of Kermanshah.
The Sunday report by the semi-official Fars news agency quotes Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying that the ban was lifted after the "discriminative restrictions'' on Iranian nationals travelling to the US was suspended by a US federal judge.
The wrestlers were originally banned from the February 16-17 competition after President Donald Trump temporarily suspended travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
The Trump administration is now appealing to reinstate the travel ban.
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On Sunday, a judge in San Francisco rejected the government's request for an immediate reinstatement.
Formal arguments in the case begin on Monday.
It was not clear whether Iran would reinstate its ban if the court judgment went in Trump's favour.
At the weekend, the United States also announced new sanctions against Iran over its missile testing regime.
Earlier, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying a special committee reviewed the case of the US wrestling team and "eventually the visit by the US freestyle wrestling team was opposed."
The decision marked the first action taken by Iran in response to Trump's executive order banning visas for seven Muslim countries.
Iran earlier said it would take retaliatory action.
Ghasemi said the policy of the new US administration left Iran no other choice but to ban the wrestlers.
USA Wrestling had said it would send a team to the Freestyle World Cup, one of the most prestigious competitions in international wrestling.
US freestyle wrestlers have competed in Iran since the 1998 Takhti Cup in Tehran, which followed an absence of nearly 20 years.
Since then, Americans have attended Iran-hosted wrestling competitions 15 times.
The American athletes were warmly welcomed by cheerful Iranian spectators and sport centres were packed as they appeared on the mats to compete.
The Iranians, for their part, have made 16 visits to the US as guests of USA Wrestling since the 1990s.
Wrestling is extremely popular in Iran and is rooted in an ancient practice of combining the sport with other physical education and meditation.
The Iranian government also said it would continue its missile programme, despite the new US sanctions.
- Agencies
