The Iran Weightlifting Federation has banned a weightlifter from competing in the sports for life after he was photographed shaking hands with a competitor from Israel.
Iranian lifter Mostafa Rajaei was seen in a photo with Israeli lifter Maksim Svirsky at the World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Poland.
Rajaei finished second overall in the men’s over-35 age group in the 240 lb division and broke the world record for the clean and jerk with a lift of 430 lbs.
Several photos of Rajaei celebrating on the podium along with Austria’s Sargis Martirosjan, who won the overall championship, as well as Svirsky. The two are seen in multiple photos together and, in one of them, they are posing to shake hands in the interest of sportsmanship.
The problem is that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iranian athletes in 2021 “not to shake hands with a representative of the (Israeli) criminal regime to obtain a medal.” Iran also does not recognize Israel as a state.
Unfortunately for Rajaei, he crossed an “unforgivable” line for Iranian officials.
“The weightlifting federation bans athlete Mostafa Rajaei for life from entering all sports facilities in the country and dismisses the head of the delegation for the competition, Hamid Salehinia,” the Iran Weightlifting Federation announced.
According to the IRNA report, Rajaei “crossed the red lines of the Islamic Republic” at the event where the Iranian delegation had been “sent with the support of the federation.”
Rajaei is a former member of the Iranian national team and competed at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in 2015.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.