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Khamenei Reaffirms Iran’s Ban on Competing Against Israeli Athletes, Offers Compensation as Incentive for Compliance
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking to members of Iran’s 2024 Olympic and Paralympic delegations. Photo: Screenshot
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei restated the country’s long-established ban on competing against Israelis while on Tuesday addressing Iranian athletes who competed in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic competitions in Paris.
Khamenei also called on Iranian officials to compensate athletes who withdraw from matches to avoid facing an opponent from Israel, Iran International reported. He said Iranian athletes are making a “sacrifice” by pulling out of competitions against Israelis because of their national and religious beliefs, and they need to be recognized and supported by Iranian officials, according to the Tehran Times.
The Iranian leader further accused the governing body of the Olympics and Paralympics of displaying a “double standard” by banning Russia from both international competitions, because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, while allowing Israel to still compete despite the raging war between the Jewish state and the Hamas terrorist organization that orchestrated the Oct. 7 deadly terrorist attacks across southern Israel. The Iranian regime backs Hamas and has for years provided the terrorist organization with arms, funding, and training.
Khamenei then accused Israel of killing 41,000 people in the Gaza Strip, a death toll announced by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health that cannot be independently verified and does not distinguish between civilians and terrorists. Even the United Nations, a vocal critic of Israel’s war effort, has cited erroneous figures in the health ministry’s reported deaths.
The Israeli military said last month that it had killed 17,000 terrorists in Gaza since the beginning of the war against Hamas on Oct. 7.
“Something else that was noticeable this year in the Olympic Games was the double standard of the countries that decide on issues concerning international sports. They truly demonstrated that duel, biased policies govern what they do,” Khamenei claimed during his speech on Tuesday. “They ban a certain government or country from participating because it started a war somewhere. But with regard to the Zionist regime, which has killed thousands of children and over 41,000 people in less than a single year, they don’t ban it from the Games. This is a double standard. They are being biased.”
“They say sports shouldn’t be mixed with politics, yet they are the ones who exhibit and demonstrate the most politically biased behavior in sports,” he added.
Iran’s policy against competing head-to-head with Israeli athletes goes back to 1979. Iranian athletes are often pressured by their coaches and Iranian sports federations to either pull out of matches or intentionally lose to avoid competing against an opponent from Israel.
“Our athlete refuses to compete or play against a Zionist opponent, and because of this, they pay a price. We must not neglect the well-being of this athlete,” Khamenei said on Tuesday. He then stressed that the Iranian government has an obligation to assist with the financial needs of these athletes.
Ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, Israel’s foreign minister warned France of an Iranian-backed terrorist plot to attack Israeli athletes competing in the Olympics. Some athletes in Israel’s Olympic delegation also had their personal information hacked and published online, and Israel’s National Cyber Directorate concluded that Iranian hackers were responsible for the leak.
Last year, Iran’s Weightlifting Federation imposed a lifetime ban on Iranian professional weightlifter Mostafa Rajaei for shaking hands with an Israeli athlete at the World Masters Championships in Poland. The head of Iran’s weightlifting federation described his actions as “unacceptable and unforgivable.”
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”
His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.
On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.
An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.
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