Al-Monitor reports, Iran’s national volleyball team is attracting record crowds on its first visit to the United States, part of a new wave of people-to-people exchanges promoted by both governments in recent months.
Playing the US national team in the first of four exhibition matches on Aug. 9, the Iranians could be forgiven for thinking they were back in Tehran, not “Tehrangeles,” as Los Angeles is known for its huge Iranian diaspora community. The largely Iranian-American crowd sang a patriotic song that predates the founding of the Islamic Republic but remains popular among Iranians worldwide. An unusual outpouring of support for the visitors in a city where many Iranian emigres have been harshly critical of the policies of the Islamic Republic. [Read full story here]
