'Sweat Offensive' in Tehran

Although it’s regularly burned at demonstrations, Old Glory hasn’t flown unmolested in Tehran since the hostage drama in 1979. Before today, that is, when a U.S. amateur wrestling team arrived in Iran for an international tournament.

Following moderate Iranian president Mohammad Khatami’s call last year for increased contact between the nations, journalists were eager to cast the wrestlers’ visit as a sweatier equivalent of the “ping-pong diplomacy” between the U.S. and China in the early '70s. The team certainly appears to have been well prepared for its diplomatic mission: Said one member, Melvin Douglas of Arizona, “I know not to walk on carpets with your shoes, I know not to look at the women. Basically, I won't do nothing wrong.”