The terrorist state does not recognize Israel, and it prohibits contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes.
Rajaei finished second overall in the men's over-35 age group in the 240-pound division at the event and broke the world record with a 430-pound clean and jerk.
After celebrating his result on the podium along with overall champion, Austria’s Sargis Martirosjan, and Israel’s Svirsky who placed third, Rajaei shook hands and took a photo with Svirsky.
The Iran Weightlifting Federation called the act “unforgivable” and announced, "The weightlifting federation bans athlete Mostafa Rajaei for life from entering all sports facilities in the country and dismisses the head of the delegation for the competition, Hamid Salehinia."
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2021 told Iranian competitors "not to shake hands with a representative of the (Israeli) criminal regime to obtain a medal." In recent years, Iranian athletes have been disqualified for avoiding Israeli athletes in recent years and sometimes even obtained medical documents in order to avoid facing them. Judo’s world governing body even imposed a four-year ban on Iran from competing in 2021 due to the practice.
