Iranian Won’t Wrestle an Israeli

The world wrestling team representing Iran was recalled from an international competition taking place in the Soviet Union because the scheduling slated an Israeli competitor against an Iranian. The official Iranian news agency IRNA said the Iranian Physical Training Organization, sponsoring the wrestling team in the Kiev competition, was recalled because Soviet officials did not provide the Iranian delegation with details of the match in advance.

“As a result of the situation an Iranian wrestler competed in one of the events with a Zionist,” IRNA said. The Iranian did not compete against the Israeli wrestler but had appeared in the same divisional bracket. Nevertheless, IRNA denounced Israel for having “usurped the Moslem land.”