Iranians Cheer US Wrestler

The Washington Post reports:

There’s a long history of sports diplomacy serving as a kind of release valve for international tensions. Last week’s international wrestling tournament in Tehran, where the Iranian and American teams took a low-stakes opportunity to show a bit of mutual goodwill, was a nice example. Posted by CNN over the weekend is a video of Iranian wrestling fans getting in on the love. As if performing a sort of corrective to the U.S.-Iranian antagonism that is increasingly costing their country, the fans made a big show of cheering the American team and one American in particular: star wrestler Jordan Burroughs.

On Saturday Iran won the freestyle portion of the competition, with Russia coming in second and the U.S. finishing third.