Iran Welcomes US Wrestling Team after Travel Ban Halted

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated on Sunday that Iran will grant visas to US athletes planning to attend the upcoming 2017 Wrestling World Cup in Iran, after US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the entry ban.

On Friday, Tehran said it would deny visas to US wrestlers heading to the World Cup set to take place on February 16-17 in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, in retaliation for the US President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for 90 days.

“Following the court ruling suspending #MuslimBan & the requests from Iranian Wrestling Federation & FILA [currently United World Wrestling], US Wrestlers’ visa will be granted,” Zarif wrote on his Twitter.

On Friday night, US District Judge James Robart in Seattle ordered a temporary nationwide halt to the entry ban, which has since been appealed by the federal government. At the moment, the ban holds and several airlines have announced that they would fly passengers who were barred from entering the United States under the executive order.

Tehran said the day after the immigration ban was introduced that it would reciprocate, but later the foreign minister clarified that the US citizens who already had valid visas would be allowed to enter the country.

Trump’s executive order, signed on January 27, also blocked refugees from coming in the United States for 120 days and indefinitely suspended the entry of Syrian refugees.