JACKI LYDEN, host:
Today in Iran, former president Mohammad Khatami announced a bid to get his old job back. He'll challenge the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's elections coming this June.
Khatami was widely known as a reformer. Not so for his successor. Ahmadinejad staked out conservative turf from nuclear development to human rights.
For the next few minutes, we'll explore several aspects of that relationship. First stop, an area that occasionally can grease the wheels of diplomacy - sports and in this case, badminton.
The Iranian Badminton Federation invited a team of U.S. women's players to a tournament in Tehran. But a few days ago, Iran's foreign ministry reversed course and refused to provide visas, leaving both athletes and diplomats disappointed. NPR's Mike Shuster has the story from Tehran.
MIKE SHUSTER: It's the 19th Fajr International Badminton Tournament held during the annual commemoration of Iran's Islamic revolution. Teams from a dozen or so nations in both women's and men's competition come here to play.
This was the first time a team from the United States had been invited. Fahribad Madazhi(ph) said she and her players, she's the manager of the Iran women's team, we're looking forward to competing with the Americans.
Ms. FAHRIBAD MADAZHI (Manager, Iranian Women's Badminton Team): (through translator) The badminton federation invited them and tried hard to have them here because it's a good experience for our players to play with them. But unfortunately, we don't know what happened that the visa was not issued at the last moment.
SHUSTER: The invitation to the American team was sent last year, and U.S.A. Badminton said all 12 players, coaches and officials had completed the paperwork for their visas two months ago. The Iranian government had authorized the visas, and the team flew last week to Dubai on the Persian Gulf to pick them up from Iran's consulate there.
But at the last minute, the foreign ministry said no. The ministry then issued a statement that it could not process the applications in time for the Americans to play in the tournament. There clearly had been a change of mind somewhere in Iran's government that this was not an appropriate time for shuttlecock diplomacy.
One of the Iranian players, Golaz Fiazis(ph), said she didn't understand why the visas weren't issued. She just wanted to compete against the Americans. One American had come to Iran last year to play. This time around, a whole team was even better, she said, and would produce a more international tournament.
Ms. GOLAZ FIAZIS (Member, Iranian Women's Badminton Team): We're just excited to play with them because last year, some woman player came here, and we were so happy and glad to see her to play badminton because we thought that they cannot play badminton, always Chinese there. But the badminton player from American is wow.
SHUSTER: Badminton and other sports present a unique problem for Iranian women. In Iran, women must wear a head scarf or hijab everywhere they go in public, but such garb would certainly put them at a disadvantage in a game of fast movement and lightning reaction like badminton.
(Soundbite of interview)
SHUSTER: Explain to me, during a match, you don't have to wear the hijab?
Ms. FIAZIS: No, because we are in our country. If we go out of our country, we should wear the scarf and our Islamic robes.
SHUSTER: And the other girls who come with other teams, they don't have to put on a head scarf...
Ms. FIAZIS: No, they don't. They don't.
SHUSTER: But men can't watch you play?
Ms. FIAZIS: No.
SHUSTER: No?
Ms. FIAZIS: No.
SHUSTER: Over the past couple of years, there have been many exchanges of American and Iranian athletes. The State Department said that Iran's decision in this case was unfortunate. Mike Shuster, NPR News, Tehran.
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