Iran condemns Israel's participation in Paris Olympics 2024; bans its athletes from interacting with Israeli counterparts
Amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, the Iranian foreign ministry has condemned the participation of Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024. On Tuesday (July 23), the ministry called for the exclusion of Israeli athletes from the Summer Games citing the country's handling of the Gaza issue.
The foreign ministry, the Islamic Republic of Iran, took to the social media platform X to put out a strongly worded statement.
Using the hashtag 'BanIsraelfromOlympics', in the said post, the ministry stated its disappointment over the “reception and protection’ of the Israeli contingent at the Olympics giving ‘legitimacy to the child killers’.
“Announcing the reception & protection of the Apartheid & terrorist Zionist regime's convoy only means giving legitimacy to the child killers. They do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of the war against the innocent people of #Gaza,” read the post on X.
Iran bans its athletes from interacting with any members of the Israeli contingent in the Paris Olympics 2024
Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, The Iranian government has refused to recognize Israel and has a long-standing policy in place that supports Palestine in its battle against Israel. The said policy also prohibits the country's athletes from getting involved in any sort of interaction with their Israeli counterparts even during Paris Olympics 2024.
The seriousness of the policy was reiterated when weightlifter, Mostafa Rajaei, was banned in 2021 for shaking hands with an Israeli athlete. More so, In February, the Iranian football federation had asked the governing body of football, FIFA, to suspend Israeli athletes from competing over the conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli contingent, that left for the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday (July 21), has been receiving full-fledged protection from the Israeli Special Forces after a number of athletes received severe death threats over the last week.
The threats, which were made via emails and phone calls, asserted an omnipresent threat on Israeli athletes regardless of where they are situated in Paris.