The regime refused to have its athlete swim in the same race as the Israeli athlete.
The regime in Iran pulled its swimmer from the 100-meter breaststroke event after he was drawn to swim in the same heat as an Israeli athlete.
Iran Press News reported:
The Iranian swimmer, Mohammad Bidarian, has refused to compete with his Israeli rival in the 100-meter freestyle event in Croatia.
Bidarian advanced to the semifinal in the 100-meter breaststroke event after he clocked a time of 52.25 seconds on Thursday morning.
Despite the fact that he had a chance to get an Olympic berth for his country, the 19-year-old Iranian national gave up the competition as he was grouped with an Israeli swimmer on Thursday evening.
Another Iranian swimmer, Mohammad Alirezaei, gained the first Olympic berth in swimming for Iran at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on Thursday.
Alirezaei is the highest ranked swimmer in Iranian history.