Iranian weightlifter Mostafa Rajaei has been given a lifetime ban after being pictured shaking hands with Israeli competitor Maksim Svirsky at the World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Poland.

An Iranian weightlifter has been banned from the sport for life after he was seen shaking hands with an Israeli competitor. Mostafa Rajaei took a photo with Maksim Svirsky at the World Masters ...

Iranian weightlifter Mostafa Rajaei has been given a lifetime ban after being pictured shaking hands with Israeli competitor Maksim Svirsky at the World Masters Weightlifting Championships in Poland.

However, Rajaei’s feat was quickly forgotten by compatriots after he shook hands with third-place athlete Maksim Svirsky, who hails from Israel. Iran does not recognise its Middle Eastern neighbour.

Mostafa Rajaei, aged in his 40s, shook hands with Israeli weightlifter Maksim Svirsky on Saturday after they both stood on the podium at a World Masters championship in Wieliczka, Poland.

Rajaei finished second in the 240-pound division of the men’s over-35 age category at the competition. There, he also broke a world record for the clean and jerk with a lift of 430 pounds.