The Iranian Foreign Ministry has demanded the exclusion of Israeli athletes from the Olympic Games starting in Paris this week over the bombardment in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

“Announcing the reception and protection of the apartheid terrorist Zionist regime’s delegation means giving legitimacy to the child killers,” the ministry said in a post on X.

“They do not deserve to be present at the Paris Olympics because of the war against the innocent people of Gaza,” it added, calling on organisers to ban Israel.