Friends Not Enemies

[original title]
‘We wish that was real life’: USA and Iran unite on Tokyo basketball court

Guardian – July 29th, 2021

It was not so much the Great Satan. More the Great Love In. And over two enjoyable hours at the Saitama Super Arena, the basketball teams of the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran gave a salutary lesson in harmony, decency, and class to many of their political leaders over the past 42 years.

One scene, among many. Everyone is drifting towards their locker rooms when Iran’s Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi dares to ask Phoenix Suns’ superstar guard Devin Booker for a photograph. There are gestures. Nods. Small talk. And then the pair are smiling and walking across the court together, shooting the breeze. It proves infectious. Seconds later Saeid Davarpanah is following suit, and soon he is sharing a pose with USA’s Damian Lillard.

The International Olympic Committee is often guilty of epic overreach when it harks on about the power of sport. All that guff and fluff about how it can unite and bind, lubricate and conjoin, and open doors that would otherwise remain bolted. But seeing two children of the 1979 revolution beaming away with their American counterparts was enough to melt the heart of even the iciest cynic.

Original is published on Guardian / Please follow the link

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/28/usa-iran-unite-tokyo-basketball-olympics