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James Malcolm Green of Team USA and David Suynyuchkhanov of Azerbaijan walk after their match at the Freestyle World Cup in 74 kg at Imam Khomeini Sports Venue in Kermanshah, Iran, on Feb. 17, 2017.Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The applause began as Team USA walked into the crowded stadium here at the Freestyle World Cup Wrestling championships in Kermanshah, Iran. The Iranians in the crowd whooped, cheered, and began chanting the name of Jordan Burroughs, the best known athlete here.

What made this warm welcome even more extraordinary was that a week before it had looked extremely unlikely that the Americans would even be allowed to compete in the games.

When President Trump issued a visa ban for citizens of 7 majority Muslim countries, including Iran on Jan. 27, the authorities in the Islamic Republic vowed reciprocation . With just weeks to go before the championships began, Team USA prepared for the possibility that they would be unable to attend. We called in all of the athletes and told them that it was unlikely we would be able to go to Iran, Rich Bender the executive director of USA Wrestling, tells TIME. "They were all disappointed."

But that all changed drastically when the courts struck down Trumps visa ban, much to the dismay of the White House. The authorities in Iran, who have long encouraged citizen diplomacy with the U.S., quickly overturned a decision to not grant visas to Team USA. In respect to the requests by American athletes and people we decided to issue visas for the US team, said Masoud Soltanifar, Irans Sports and Youth Minister.

Now the visit has gone ahead, offering Iranians and Americans a moment of sports diplomacy amid crumbling relations between the leaders of their countries. It's not the first time freestyle wrestling, a millennia old sport in Iran and part of the national identity, has acted as a way to bring the two countries together. In fact in 1998, wrestlers were the very first U.S. athletic team that travelled to Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, a development so important that they were invited to the White House by then President Bill Clinton when they returned. Since then, the United States and Iran have exchanged wrestling teams 32 times, making the sport a mainstay of people-to-people diplomacy even when the two governments were at an impasse over Irans nuclear activities.

So it was again in Kermanshah, as Iranian fans welcomed Team USA a powerhouse of the sport with gifts and flowers. The American managers and coaches were given a private tour of the Bostan Arc, an ancient ruin and major tourist attraction here, with a heavy security detail to guarantee their safety. When Burroughs approached the Iranian Sports minister to personally thank him for the visas it led to a few minutes of friendly hand-shaking, with Soltanifar telling the Team USA leader that he was happy to see him in Iran.

The welcome has been so gracious, its great being here, said Burroughs, who has more Instagram followers from the Iranian capital Tehran than any other city in the world. The reaction I get from fans here is more than what I get back in the States.

The warm welcome belies what is a difficult moment for U.S.-Iranian relations. Many thought the historic 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and 6 world powers including the United States would lead to a thawing in the historically frosty relationship. Economic and social contacts were on the rise, the promise of trade between the two countries was solidified by the deal Irans national carrier Iran Air signed with Boeing for scores of new planes.

But with the election of Donald Trump as the 45th U.S. President all bets were off . Trump promised on the campaign trail to scrap the nuclear deal , and his administration put Iran "on notice " after the country tested a missile in late January.

Authorities in Iran however hope that as time goes on Trump will develop a mellower approach. The fact that the international community, even U.S. allies are voicing their concern on Trumps policies and course of action is very important, Soltanifar said, adding that Trump is facing backlash from the whole world, and thats not sustainable. I am practically certain that he cannot continue his present course.

For the time being, relations between the United States and the Islamic Republic must be settled in the sporting arena and so it was that on Friday, Iran defeated Team USA in the final. It already looks as if the U.S. has taken reciprocal measures, of a friendlier sort. Shortly after Team USA received their visas, Irans national archery team was issued last-minute permits to attend the Las Vegas World Cup. In sports at least, the two countries can still get along.

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US Wrestlers in Iran Practice Hands-On Diplomacy - TIME

Avigdor Liberman speaks at the Saban Forum. (photo credit:SABAN FORUM)

After a schedule released Friday showed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman sharing the stage with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Sunday morning at the Munich International Security Conference, organizers have hurriedly rearranged.

The two leaders from enemy states were set to take part in a session entitled Old crises, new Middle East along with Saudi Arabias Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

The presentation was announced Friday despite the fact that Israel currently does not have diplomatic relations with Iran or Saudi Arabia. While Israel's connection with Iran is a hostile one, Israel has an informal connection with Saudi Arabia due to their shared interests on the issue of threat posed by Iran.

Now, instead of having the four speakers together for a single session, with the BBCs Lyse Doucet moderating, organizers have cancelled the session and replaced it with four separate statements by the leaders.

Zarif is now set to speak at 9 am, with a panel on US policy following at 9.20am and Liberman speaking at 10.05 am with Cavusoglu and Jubeir after.

Speaking to Channel 2 news from Munich on Friday, Liberman said he had been looking forward to the panel, hoping to say exactly "what I think about the Ayatollah's [supreme leader] regime in Tehran."

"I hope he will be in the hall when I'm speaking and hear what I think about the ayatollah's regime in Tehran, and everything I said to the other defense ministers whom I met - the greatest danger to the stability of the entire Middle East is Iran."

During the conference Liberman is also set to meet with British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon,

German Defense Minister Dr.Ursula von der Leyen, Canadas Minister of Defense Harjit Sajjan, and Singapores Defense Minister Dr. Ng Eng Hen. Liberman will also meet the foreign ministers of Russia Sergei Lavrov and Moldovas Andrei Galbur, as well as President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the minister of Bavaria Horst Seehofer Lorenz, and the President of Lockheed Martin Marillyn Hewson.

According to a statement put out by his office, Liberman will discuss strengthening security cooperation between Israel and those countries as well as jointly dealing with the threat of regional terrorism.

Radical Islamic terrorism has long been not just a regional problem faced by countries in the Middle East, but a global problem that affects different countries, almost indiscriminately, as part of an insane fanatical campaign against the free world, the statement quoted Liberman as saying, adding that one of the most important factors in dealing with this threat is cooperating across borders and continents, between all governments and relevant security agencies.

On Friday morning Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his American counterpart Gen.James Mattis in Munich for the first time since Mattis assumed his position as Secretary of Defense.

During the meeting, the two discussed several matters, with Iran first and foremost among them. A statement released by Libermans office said that the three central problems facing the two countries and that must be dealt with were "Iran, Iran and Iran."

Lieberman stated that there is a need to build a genuine and effective coalition to deal with the terrorism that Tehran was spreading throughout the world, including the development of ballistic missiles and its continued attempts to develop nuclear weapons.

Israels Defense Minister also stated that North Korea and Iran are two ends of the axis of evil that also includes Hezbollah and the Assad regime and Iran is the common thread.

Mattis and Liberman agreed that they must act decisively against Iran, a statement put out by Libermans office read.

During their meeting, the two also discussed other security issues related to developments in the Middle East and ways to strengthen cooperation between Washington and Jerusalem in dealing with them.

The two concluded the meeting stating that the two countries are true allies and that they will continue to work together to maintain common interests of the two countries and agreed to meet again soon.

Liberman and Mattis have previously spoken only by phone.

The Munich Security Conference is held every year and hosts heads of state, foreign ministers, and defense ministers from around the globe. Over 30 heads of state of government and 80 foreign and defense ministers along with other officials are expected to attend the conference which opened on Friday.

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Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Must Stand New York Times WASHINGTON Standing next to Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at a news conference Wednesday, President Trump inveighed against the nuclear agreement with Iran, declaring it one of the worst deals ever made. On this matter, Mr. Trump ... US, Israel at one against regional threat of IranThe Australian Benjamin Netanyahu largely correct on Iranian missiles with Hebrew-language threatsPolitiFact Trump to host Netanyahu in meeting focused on Iran, Middle East talksABC News Voice of America -CBN News all 3,839 news articles »

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Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Must Stand - New York Times

He also said that the agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear program -- brokered in 2015 by the US, Iran and five other world powers -- will stay in place, despite noises to the contrary from members of US President Donald Trump's administration.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Zarif said there was an international consensus not to let the agreement -- which took two years to negotiate -- unravel.

"I believe everybody, including experts in the United States, know this was the best deal possible for all concerned, not just Iran but the US too," he said.

"It was a triumph of diplomacy over coercion, because coercion doesn't work any more."

Regarding Syria, where Iran is in alliance with Russia in supporting the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the 57-year-old Iranian diplomat said it was the US "occupation" of Iraq that had created ISIS.

"We cannot commit to solutions that are part of the problem," he said. "I believe that the presence of foreign troops in Arab territory is a recipe for those extremists to rally behind and gain new fighters from disenfranchised youth."

Zarif said that sanctions won't work with Iran.

"Everybody (in) the past who has tested Iran know we don't respond well to threats. We respond well to mutual respect and mutual interests."

Zarif said the Obama administration tried to use economic sanctions to curtail Iran's nuclear program, but eventually failed, with Iran increasing their number of nuclear centrifuges tenfold in that period.

"The reason Obama came to the negotiating table was because sanctions did not work," Zarif told CNN.

Zarif said Trump's proposed, but currently stalled, travel ban on seven mainly Muslim countries including Iran "was an affront to the entire nation."

"You cannot find any Iranian who has committed a single act of terror against Americans, in any of these atrocities that have taken place," he said. "Iran has always condemned every single terrorist incident in the United States since 9/11."

Zarif said the ban was a departure from previous US policy that took issue with the government but not the Iranian people, and added that Iranians were among the most successful immigrants to the US.

"They (the US) don't understand in a globalized world you cannot contain threats to one locality. Syria is now a training ground for terrorists creating havoc everywhere," Zarif said.

Amanpour asked the Iranian Foreign Minister why Tehran chose to intervene in Syria on behalf of President Assad. "There are 500,000 people dead, there are twelve million refugees, there is torture, there is mass hanging -- it is not my impression, those are the facts," she said.

"Mistakes were made in Syria, as in the past mistakes have been made," he replied. "The same people who armed Daesh [ISIS], armed the terrorist groups, were the same people who armed Saddam Hussein, were the same people who created and armed al Qaeda."

"We should not continue to repeat history and then blame people who were on the right side."

Responding to a question about people fearing Iran -- partly because of its support for Hezbollah -- Zarif said the Lebanese Shia militia entered Syria on the request of Assad "to prevent these extremist forces (ISIS and other Sunni Islamist groups) from infiltrating into Lebanon, which would be a threat against all of us."

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Iran: No to US troops in Syria, nuclear deal to stay - CNN.com - CNN

On Sunday 26 February, the night of the Oscars, were transforming Trafalgar Square into Londons biggest cinema, says Sadiq Khanin a publicity video for the screening of Irans Oscar-nominated film, The Salesman.

I want to welcome people from all across the capital and beyond, the Khan adds khan in Persian is aptly the daddy, godfather, don, the head of the village to share in this celebration of London as an international hub of creativity and as a global beacon of openness and diversity.

But hold on why is London doing this when Tehran is holding one of its citizens in jail over unclear charges and refusing her urgent medical care?

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratfliffe, the 38-year-old charity worker from north London detained arbitrarily last April, has suffered solitary confinement, gone on hunger strike, been threatened with losing custody of her two-year-old daughter who she refused to keep in prison, and was recently handed a five-year prison sentence. Movement in her arms and neck is restricted and a prison doctor has recommended she see a neurologist but she is inhumanely being denied access to one.

Benjamin Netanyahu urges Theresa May to back fresh sanctions for Iran

If there is one thing she is guilty of it is not being a panda were she, by now she would be a household name and calls for her release would be as robust as they were for the UK sailors captured by the Ahmadinejad government in 2006.(The Blair government, for all its faults, rightly regarded Iran as a terrorist state and demanded their unconditional release.) And that is what is required now Nazanin must be released.

If Theresa May and Boris Johnson are content to do nothing but have their subordinates limply raise the issue in the buffet queueat the next oil conference, it is Sadiq Khans moral duty to step up. With this in mind, Ive started a petition urging the Mayor to use his screening of The Salesman which is expected to draw a crowd of 10,000 and is backed by the likes of Mike Leigh and Lily Cole to demand Nazanins release. Sadly, though, City Hall has toldMetro that this is not its job, its the Foreign Offices.

It remains a mystery why a director who is not British and whose film is not about Britain is a more pressingconcern to the Mayor than one of his own citizens wrongly jailed in Tehran.

In fact, why is it Londons responsibility to screen this film at all? Had Asghar Farhadi been banned from the US it would make sense, but Farhadi is boycotting the Oscars because he cannot countenance the ifs and buts that might accompany special provisions to ensure his presence in Tinseltown he is choosing not to go.

How is that Londons business? If its a matter of championing Muslims, is there a shortage of talented UK Muslims? And why choose the relatively privileged Iranians over Somalis or Sudanese?

Nazanin is sadly a victim of the lefts hypocrisy. If the Mayor was to screen an Israeli film in the name of diversity, charged and angry protests would take place.

Irans human rights abuse is, like its filmmaking, world class yet there is no BDS movement to hound Khans decision to, lets face it, roll out the red carpet for the new Saudis, despotic Islamists whose crimes we choose to ignore.

If the Mayor will not speak out for Nazanin he must surely, on behalf of Londoners, invite her husband Richard Ratcliffe to speak at the screening. Foreign Offices job? Do a John Bercow. If he fails to do so, I will be campaigning for Iranians, starting with Farhadi, to disavow this event, to boycott it.

Click here to sign the petition

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While a Londoner languishes in prison in Iran, Sadiq Khan thinks it's a good idea to invite an Iranian director to ... - The Independent