Athletes from Iran at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Photo: wiki commons.

Iranian athletes will compete against Israelis at the upcoming London Olympics, Secretary General of the Iranian Olympic Committee and Chef de Mission Bahram Afsharzadeh announced on Monday, Israel Hayom reported.

“We will be truthful to sport,” Afsharzadeh said. “We just follow the sportsmanship and play every country.”

Afsharzadeh spoke in the athletes’ village after signing the “truce wall,” a UN-backed initiative calling on warring parties around the world to end hostilities during the period of the games. “In sport and in Olympics, all the countries must [be] together with the teams in friendship,” Afsharzadeh said. “Solidarity for all the countries is very important.”

On Tuesday however, an Iranian report denied that the country’s athletes would compete against “the Zionist regime’s representatives at the Olympics.”

Tehran withdrew from events against Israelis at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games.