Friendly Contacts Between Iranian and Israeli Athletes at the Special Olympics

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday, August 12, about "friendly contacts" between several Iranian and Israeli athletes during the Special Olympics held in Los Angeles, USA, in recent days. The Special Olympics is an annual global event for individuals with intellectual disabilities, distinct from the Paralympics. Haaretz used the phrase "Play Sports, Not War" as the title for this report, referencing the famous saying "Love, Not War," and also republished images from the Facebook page of the Special Olympics Israel showing some of these "friendly contacts." In some of these photos, individuals are shown from behind, with the names of Iran and Israel visible on their sports uniforms. It appears that the faces of the Iranian athletes were covered due to security sensitivities that could arise upon their return to the country. These "friendly contacts" occurred during a time when Israel has prioritized confronting the nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers, thus entering a new phase in the 37-year conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel. However, under such circumstances, the Israeli sports delegation posted some photos of Israeli and Iranian athletes on the Facebook page of the Olympics, stating that "peace prevails at the Special Olympics." The Israeli delegation noted on Facebook that encountering sports delegations from countries that do not have relations with Israel is "not an everyday occurrence, but an exciting contact." According to Haaretz, the heads of the two delegations, Dr. Asghar Dadkhah and Reuven Astrakhan, also embraced each other for a photo; however, such a photo has not been published. In Haaretz's report, an image of two men wearing outfits with the logos of Iran and Israel is seen from behind at the entrance of a sports hall in the Special Olympics complex in Los Angeles. The American publication Good News, which is the main source of Haaretz's report, stated that Iranian and Israeli athletes were coincidentally on the same flight from France to Los Angeles for the Special Olympics, and their first contact was on this flight. Reuven Astrakhan stated, "What do you do to pass the time on a 12-hour flight? You talk to your neighbor." According to him, the conversation was about sports, which the Iranian team showed a lot of enthusiasm for. Astrakhan mentioned that the Special Olympics organizers arranged for the Iranian representative to hand over the torch to the Israeli representative at the opening ceremony, considering this acquaintance. Alongside the Iranian and Israeli athletes, athletes from 163 countries, totaling 6,500 participants, took part in this year's Special Olympics, which concluded on Sunday, August 11.