Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday he hopes to attend this summer’s Olympic Games in London but that the British authorities were reluctant to allow him.
“I would like to be beside the Iranian athletes at the Olympic Games in London to support them, but [the British] have issues with my presence,” Ahmadinejad said, without offering further explanation.
“The enemies do not want our athletes to win medals, but our young people shall be present at the Olympic Games and, like Arash, give new reasons to take pride in Islamic Iran,” he said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
Arash is a mythical hero of ancient Persia.
London closed its embassy in Tehran after a rampage through the building by Islamist students in November 2011.
Britain was one of the first European countries to adopt sanctions against the Iranian Central Bank to put pressure on the Islamic Republic for its disputed nuclear program.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
I’m glad someone is showing some backbone regarding this monster. The US sure doesn’t. I wonder if the Brits will stick to their guns or will cave and be spineless again.