While Iran and the United States have been engaged in near constant hostility for the last 38 years, sport — especially wrestling — has been one of the few arenas where cultural diplomacy has flourished without the interruption of geopolitical tensions. That seems to be no more. In a tit for tat, on Feb. 3, Iran blocked American wrestlers from participating in the Freestyle World Cup competition after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 27 for a 90-day ban on the entry of citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
After the Feb. 4 decision by US federal court Judge James Robart to temporarily suspend Trump’s ban, Tehran reversed its ban, announcing that the US wrestlers would be permitted to participate in the games in Kermanshah to be held Feb. 16-17.
