Weightlifting champion Mostafa Rajaee, 36, was filmed shaking hands and posing for a picture with Israel’s Maksim Svirsky at the World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland this week, according to a video published by Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA Wednesday.
Rajaee, who won the silver medal at the competition, was banned for life from all sports for actions described by the head of Iran’s weightlifting federation as “unacceptable and unforgivable.”
The head of the expedition, Hamid Salehinia, was also removed from his position, state outlet Tasnim reported.
In an Instagram post after the event, Rajaee thanked “everyone who helped me along the way [for finishing second]” but did not comment on either the handshake or his subsequent ban.
Iran does not recognize Israel as a country and regularly issues hostile statements, while Iranian athletes have long been prohibited by the government from competing against Israelis.
Additionally, the International Chess Federation (FIDE) told the Iranian Chess Federation in 2020 to state its position on competing against Israeli athletes, after repeated cases where Iranian athletes “refused to participate in games with Israeli citizens.”
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