Iranian weightlifter banned for life after shaking hands with Israeli athlete

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – A veteran Iranian weightlifter has been banned for life for shaking hands with an Israeli opponent at the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland after winning a silver medal.

Mostafa Rajaei, who is in his early 40s, was seen shaking hands and posing for photographs with Israeli weightlifter Maksim Svirsky during the competition after they both had a podium finish.

"Iran’s Weightlifting Federation (IRIWF) bans athlete Mostafa Rajaei for life from all sports facilities in the country and dismisses the head of the (country’s) delegation for the competition Hamid Salehinia," the federation said in a statement on Wednesday.

The veteran athlete, who previously represented Iran in international weightlifting competitions, “breached the red lines of the Islamic Republic,” the statement said.

“Undoubtedly, the fight against the usurping Zionist regime (referring to Israel) and its supporters is one of the main pillars of the strategic policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and in this regard, the IRIWF does not recognize the illegitimate regime of Israel,” it added.

Iran’s contingent at the world championship finished fifth with one gold and four silver. Rajaei won a silver medal in his weight category and posed for pictures with his Israeli opponent, who won a bronze.

Iran does not recognize Israel and does not allow its athletes to participate or compete against Israeli players in international sports competitions.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has on several occasions urged the country’s athletes to not shake hands with Israeli opponents and boycott competitions where they face Israelis.

To avoid facing Israelis in international competitions, Iranian athletes have often feigned injury, failed weight test, or deliberately lost their preceding games.

In the 2001 World Judo Championships, Iranian judoka Hamed Malek Mohammadi refused to compete against Yoel Razvozov of Israel.

In the 2004 Olympic Games, the sports ruling body mulled sanctions on the Iranian judo team after Iran's Arash Mir Esmaeili, then world judo champion, forfeited his match against an Israeli player.

In September last year, Iranian freestyle wrestler Amir Mohammad Yazdani pulled out of the World Wrestling Championship 2022 in Serbia after failing the weight test, to avoid facing an Israeli athlete.

Before him, in November 2017, Alireza Karimi threw his match against his Russian opponent in the Under-23 World Wrestling Championship in Poland to avoid a match against an Israeli opponent.