USA Wrestling president apologizes to Iranian team

April 4, 1998
Web posted at: 5:20 p.m. EST (2220 GMT)

STILLWATER, Oklahoma (CNN) -- The president of USA Wrestling has apologized to members of an Iranian wrestling team who were upset about being fingerprinted and photographed upon their arrival in the United States.

The team is competing this weekend in the World Cup of Freestyle Wrestling at Oklahoma State University.

Team members say they were detained for almost three hours at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport Wednesday while they were fingerprinted and photographed.

Iranian Wrestling Federation President Mohammed Taleghani said, through an interpreter, that "it was a bad experience to be treated as criminals."

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service at O'Hare told CNN that fingerprinting and photographing is standard procedure for people visiting the United States for the first time from certain countries, including Iran.

USA Wrestling President Larry Sciacchetano apologized to the Iranians for their treatment.

"I certainly apologize to the Iranian delegation and to the Iranian people for that inconvenience," he said

He surmised that O'Hare officials may not have been prepared for the Iranians' arrival, because original plans had them entering the country through Atlanta.

An attempt to improve relations

The wrestling competition comes during attempts to improve relations between the two countries. In February, a U.S. wrestling team made a groundbreaking trip to Iran. The countries also are promoting scientific and cultural exchanges.

It is not so many years ago that then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini thundered against the "great Satan," the United States.

The U.S. wrestling team's visit to Iran was the first by American athletes since the 1979 overthrow of the U.S.-backed shah and the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by Islamic militants. They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days before their release in 1981.

'A sort of permanent hostility'

Time may not heal all wounds, but after nearly two decades of enmity the United States and Iran are beginning to speak to each other, which could lead to better understanding, and perhaps, one day, reconciliation.

It is a delicate process, step by step. And one of them has been taken at Columbia University.

At a day-long session Wednesday, Iranians and Americans -- academics and mid-level diplomats from the two governments -- came face to face. The timing may be right, on both sides.

"The U.S. government had settled into a sort of permanent hostility," said Gary Sick, who was a National Security Council adviser from 1976 to 1981.

"You didn't have to think about it. Nobody every challenged you on the inside about what you thought about Iran. You just disliked them, that's all. Suddenly that view began to be questioned," Sick said.

Iranian leader wants cultural exchanges

Mohammad Khatami, Iran's president, has called for closer cultural ties.

"Not only do we not harbor any ill wishes for the American people, but in fact we consider them to be a great nation," he said in an interview on CNN.

An American response came when President Clinton voiced the hope that, "The day will soon come when the United States can once again enjoy good relations with Iran." Government- controlled radio in Iran broadcast Clinton's message.

The problem is that Iran's other religious leaders, who also hold power, do not want a dialogue, and may try to block the Khatami's desire to talk to the United States.

So what do two presidents in Washington and Teheran do when they want better relations but are afraid the effort may blow up in their face? They move cautiously, and they turn, not to diplomats, but to people who hold no official position.

At Wednesday's conference, Iranian and American diplomats spoke in generalities.

'We can help change the atmosphere'

But it is someone like John Marks who is actually doing something. Marks organized the visit of American wrestlers to Iran.

"We brought the American flag back to Teheran with honor but without chauvinism, and in an atmosphere of mutual respect," Marks said. "What we can do is help to change the atmosphere. We can change the climate, we can create some of the openings. But if the governments are not interested, nothing is going to happen in the end."

But the governments are interested. And so, 12 Iranian freestyle wrestlers, three coaches and six other members of the Iranian team will take part in the tournament, as their nations draw closer together.

Correspondent Garrick Utley contributed to this report.

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