the Iranian swimmer would have been jailed--and perhaps tortured ---if he had swum against the israeli---the way you word youur article, it's as if he was his own decision-maker. Iranian people are not fanatics, but they are ruled by fanatics.

Do the Iranians really hate us this much? Sure, I understand the religious fanaticism, but I'm shocked that the Iranians will cause a fuss over something as minor as a swimming competition. Such incidents show that Israel's and Iran's political disagreements are irreconcilable, for no reason other than the fact that the Iranians hate us too much to even swim a race against an Israeli. Its madness.

baaaaa sound like juvenile thing to me, but the islamic way of thinking is child like, meaning, you most of the time need to send them on time out.

An Arab/Iranian team member that refuses to compete in any sport with Israelis should be immediately disqualified without further discussion and permanently banned from future events.

There's rumors that the Iranian swimmer is the Autollah's secret lover

I WONDER WHETHER IT'S A SIGN OF DEFEAT OR HATE.

Are you open to the possibility that whether or not they dump their regime, the younger generation of Iranians hate us? They don't remember close relations under the the shah.

I can't necessarily swear to this, but on more than one occasion I've read that many young Iranians so loathe the mullahs that they have much more positive feelings toward America (and even Israel, in some cases), because their attitude is that if the regime considers us their mortal enemies, then there must be something good about both our countries.

forbidding Jews under death penalty in Iran to stay outside under rain, lest they could spoil muslims' purity by touching the same drops of water

During the 2004 olympic games, the Iranian wrestler refused to wrestler his Israeli opponent. Athletes driven by fear of punishment like the Iranian soccer players fired from the team for support of the opposition.

Ahmadino,head loco; Napoleon ,la folie des grandeurs; Nasrallah, Muhammad cousin, and many more. Mohammad Alirezaei's is an idiot to listen to his boss,Iran's pygmee and the idiot in charge. To # 2, Jogyma from Kenya. It's hate that leads to defeat; as it has been throughout history of mankind

#1 is saying that Iranian athletes are punished for dissension. An example, "Al-Arabiya reports that retaliation is swift from the Islamic Republic for four of the Iranian soccer players who showed support for Mir Hossein Mousavi and the opposition protesters by wearing green armbands: "Four of Iran's national football players have been forced to 'retire' following their World Cup qualifier against South Korea in which some team members sported green armbands in solidarity with the Iranian opposition against the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a known football buff. The players have been slapped with a life ban, meaning they will not able to play for their country again, and have also had their passports taken away from them, threatening their jobs abroad with European teams. The players have also been banned from speaking to the media and are stuck in Iran after returning from Seoul where they failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa folllowing a 1-1 draw against North Korea". Mike

... you know that you'll always lose in anything that you do in competition against the ZIONIST ENTITY.

r in the same boat meaning the extreem religious people make their lives miserable, however in Israel those religious fanatics r behind bars(stupid riots) while in Iran they r the tyrant who control things, the persian should learn to fight for themselves don't give up, you will get freedom. replacing Shaa in Ayatola isn't the way.

Another point to consider is that this never reached the media in the US, but consider what the response would have been if it was a Jew refusing to swim against an Persian, (or Arab, or Muslim). It would make global headlines. Don't tell me it wouldn't. You would see rabid anti-Israel condemnation worldwide.

it is up to the international sports federations to protect the fairness of their competitions, and the general atmosphere of "sportsmanship", in spite of race, religion, or nationality. if the federation were not inherently anti-semitic, it would have banned the iranian team from international competition for at least a year as a result of the beijing incident. but it did nothing. and after a second refusal, since the iranians obviously missed the message, it should have resulted in a 5-year ban, meaning that they would be forced to mis the next olympics. unfortunately, that presupposes that the ruling committee of the federation doesn't share the iranians' hatred towards israel....

Islam is the religion of peace and the whole world knows about it but they dont want to accept it .

Who the hell are you to say they should be banned or disqualified Arabs countries are the only countries with whom the world is getting food to eat and live

I agree with #4- a team that refuses to compete against other countries should be immediately disqualified and threatened with bans- This is a sports event- the athletes swear before the games to abide by rules and laws and fight honorably- so what is honorable about refusing to race another athlete? You tell me. Politics should have NO PLACE in a sporting event. Period! If they can't play by the rules- they can't play- is this clear enough? it should be.

thank G-d the iranian did not enter the pool with our great Israeli swimmers as the dirty persian would have contaminated the water with its iranian filth. Ban all islamic fanatics from all world sports just as they did in south africa many years ago until they decide on peace tollerance and equality.

its clear that he die to race but his country dont allwo him.