Mohammad Reza Tabesh, Chairman of Sport Fraction at the Iranian Parliament, pointed to presence of Saudi marathon runners at Tehran International Persian Run held on Friday saying “sports strengthen bond of friendship between nations as border, race and color classifications become meaningless in them which is why sports have turned into a popular phenomenon among all people and have resolved conflicts between governments on many occasions.
“Given that one major objective of the Islamic Revolution is to bolster unity and brotherhood among nations, permitting Saudi athletes to enter the country, in addition to being a humane act, brings about useful outcomes for Iran’s diplomacy,” he continued.
Tabesh went on to note that presence of Saudi runners at a time when footballers of the Arab country are banned by their government from entering Iran, shows contradictory policies practiced by Saudi Arabia in the field of sports and indicates that Iranophobia policies have become ineffective.
Chairman of Sport Fraction expressed hope that Iran’s tactful policies in cultural and sport arenas will neutralize conspiracies of enemies asserting “political relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia are different now from the time they prevented their footballers from entering Iran."
“Therefore, certain moves like presence of Saudi runners in Tehran and acceptance of Iran’s conditions for Hajj indicate a change in policies of Saudi Arabia towards Iran,” MP Tabesh concluded.
The first Tehran International Persian Run was held on Friday, drawing hundreds of experienced and neophyte runners from around the world.
Mohammad Jafar Moradi of Iran won the title in the 42-kilometer event which started at Azadi Sports Complex and passed by the iconic Azadi Tower.
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