Tehran (Reuters): Iran said it had barred a US wrestling team from the Freestyle World Cup competition in retaliation for an executive order by President Donald Trump banning visas for Iranians, state television reported.
The Freestyle World Cup, one of the sport’s most prestigious events, is scheduled for Feb. 16-17 and USA Wrestling had previously said it would send a team to the competition in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah.
Tehran has already announced it will stop US citizens entering the country following Washington’s decision to ban refugees and citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries including Iran.
"A special committee in Tehran reviewed their cases and decided to oppose the visit by the U.S. freestyle wrestling team," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi was quoted by state television as saying. "The visa policy of the new American administration gave us no other option but to ban the wrestlers."