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Iran has banned a 15-year-old boy from playing with its national chess team and in domestic tournaments because he competed against an Israeli.

Borna Derakhshani faced off against Israels Alexander Huzman in the first round of the Gibraltar Chess Festival, which took place from January 23 to February 2.

Huzman defeated the Iranian, but the head of Irans chess foundation, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, compounded Derakhshanis loss by imposing the ban on Monday.

Unfortunately, what shouldnt have happened has happened. Our national interests have priority over everything, Pahlevanzadeh said. He added that those who infringe upon Irans ideals and principles would be shown no leniency.

Iran does not recognize the State of Israel and forbids its athletes from competing against Israelis. In the past, Iranians have cited illnesses or injury to avoid facing Israeli opponents.

Last year, an Iranian chess grandmaster withdrew from a match against an Israeli at a Basel tournament in order to reject the existence of the Zionist state.

But pulling out from competition has its risks. In 2011, one Iranian chess player was expelled from a tournament in Corsica after refusing to play against an Israeli.

Politics has no place in competition at this level, the tournament organizer stated at the time.

Borna is not the only Derakhshani sibling to face trouble with the Iranian chess foundation. His sister Dorsa was also banned from representing the country with the national team and from competing in domestic tournaments for not wearing a hijab head covering while competing at the same Gibraltar tournament.

To save face, the countrys chess foundation chief said the siblings were not actually representing Iran at the tournament, but rather had attended independently.

Darya Safai, an Iranian exile and gender equality advocate, took to social media to defend the Derakhshani siblings, calling the two national heroes in separate posts.

Iran is currently hosting the 2017 womens world chess championship in Tehran, but the competition has been clouded by criticism and boycott calls due to its requirement that all women wear a hijab.

Along with several other players, US champion Naz Paikidze has boycotted the tournament, saying, I will not wear a hijab and support womens oppression. Even if it means missing one of the most important competitions of my career.

Still, not all competitors agree with Paikidzes stance. Iranian grandmaster and 2015 Asian Continental Championship winner Mitra Hejazipour said that boycotts would undermine a hard-fought campaign to promote female sports in Iran.

Its not right to call for a boycott. These games are important for women in Iran; its an opportunity for us to show our strength, she said.

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Iran bans teen chess player for competing against an Israeli - The Times of Israel

New York Times

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3 Generals Bound by Iraq Will Guide Trump on Security - New York Times

Iraqi forces consolidate their positions after blasting their way to the southern edge of Mosul in an assault Baghdad and its partners hope will spell the doom of the jihadist "caliphate". Iraqi forces backed by jets and gunships have retaken Al-Buseif, a village which IS had used as its main base south of Mosul, says Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, of the Rapid Response force. Video provided by AFP Newslook

In this March 30, 2010 file photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a member of the U.S. military mans the guard post before sunrise at Camp Delta, part of the U.S. Detention Center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.(Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS, AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON An Islamic State suicide bomber who attacked an army base in Iraq this week was a British former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was awarded more than $1 million in compensation, according to media reports Tuesday.

Ronald Fiddler, who became known asJamal al-Harith after converting to Islam in the 1990s, was freed from the detention camp in 2004 after lobbying by the government of then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He was awarded 1million pounds (now about $1.25 million) in compensation after saying British agents were complicit in his mistreatment, the Telegraph reported.

He was announced as a suicide bomber who targeted coalition forces outside Mosul this week when ISIS released a picture of him smiling in a 4x4 that was seen in video footage speeding down a track. ISIS claimed Harith caused multiple casualties, according tothe Times of London.

Harith, 50, traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, in 2014, raising fears that the money given to him had been passed on to ISIS. He was known to fellow militants as Abu-Zakariya al-Britani.

Harith, who was accused of having links to Osama bin Laden, was held in Guantanamo Bay without charge for two years after he was discovered in a Taliban prison in Afghanistan in 2001, the Times of London reported.

Iraqi forces push into southern outskirts of Mosul

Iraq launches operation to retake western Mosul from Islamic State

Manchester-born Hariths brother Leon Jameson told the newspaper thathis brother wasted his life.

It is him, I can tell by his smile, he said of the ISIS image. If it is true then Ive lost a brother, so another family (member) gone.

In a statement Blair, the former Labour Party prime minister, denounced the way in which the story was being covered bysome media.

"It is correct that Jamal al-Harith was released from Guantanamo Bay at the request of the British Government in 2004," the statement said. "He was not paid compensation by my Government. The compensation was agreed in 2010 by the Conservative Government."

"The fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any Government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties with desire to protect our security, and we were likely to be attacked whatever course we took," he added.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive Sunday to drive the militants from Mosul, Iraqs second-biggest city and their last stronghold in the country.

Government-sanctioned Shiite militiamenlaunched a new push to seize villages west of Mosul from ISIS on Wednesday.The militants captured Mosul in 2014.

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Iraqis trapped by ISIL in Mosul face starvation, beatings and execution

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Reports: ISIS suicide bomber in Iraq was ex-Gitmo detainee - USA TODAY

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Iraq Is a Huge Opportunity for Trump - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

New York Times

The War in Iraq: Why? New York Times And our country has suffered the death and injury of tens of thousands of our own sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives by waging this war in Iraq. But for what purpose? We know that there were no weapons of mass destruction ...

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The War in Iraq: Why? - New York Times