TEHRAN: Iran charged Monday that the United States had "detained" its visiting volleyball team at a US airport for several hours.
The foreign ministry's director for North America told Swiss ambassador Markus Leitner, whose country represents US interests in Iran, that the team was detained for about four hours at an airport in Chicago.
"If America cannot host all the teams fairly and neutrally, it better stop hosting sport events," the official told the Swiss envoy.
Iran's volleyball team is in the US for the 2019 Nations League final six.
The team is to play against Poland on Thursday and Brazil on Friday, and two out of six teams will face off Sunday in the final, which would be Monday in Tehran.
Iran and the United States cut diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated since Washington withdrew from a 2015 landmark nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
State news agency IRNA said Iran's volleyball team had "visited the US in previous years for various friendly or official games and never had a problem before".