Iran to take legal action against ISSF for PG games

Iran says it will take legal action against the Riyadh-based Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF), one day after the athletic games planned in Tehran for April were canceled.

On Sunday, ISSF called off the athletic games scheduled for Tehran because of Iran's use of the term "Persian Gulf" on medals and pamphlets.

According to the federation, Iran "did not abide by the rules of ISSF " and "did not follow the decisions taken by the general assembly of the federation at a previous meeting in Riyadh."

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast criticized the move on Monday, saying that the Tehran government keeps the right to take legal proceedings against the federation for annulling the games at a time when Iran had already made the necessary preparations.

"We will pursue the issue given the costs and expenses inflicted upon us and their illegal demand”, he noted, adding that the Foreign Ministry and the National Olympic Committee will take legal proceedings against the move.

Mehman-Parast added that since the games were mainly aimed at strengthening the bonds between Muslim states, the use of lame excuses to postpone the games will prove to be a wrong and baseless approach.

The Iranian official stressed that the historical body of water in southeastern Iran has always been referred to as "the Persian Gulf" and any attempt to corrode this term is against UN regulations.

He added that Iran will do everything in its power to preserve the internationally-recognized term of the "Persian Gulf" for the 990 km long body of water that starts from Arvand Rud and ends at the Strait of Hormuz.

"We will never allow Arab states to discourage the use of the term 'Persian Gulf'," noted the Iranian Foreign Ministry official. "The region has always been, and will always be, the Persian Gulf."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=116442§ionid=351020101.