Iranian athlete Rozhan Goudarzi withdrew from a taekwondo tournament in Kenya after refusing to compete against an Israeli opponent, local media reported Wednesday.

Iran does not recognise Israel and prohibits any contact between Iranian and Israeli athletes.

As a result, Iranian athletes have long avoided competing against Israelis, often by withdrawing, seeking disqualification or presenting medical certificates.

"Rozhan Goudarzi withdrew from the competition at the U-21 World Taekwondo Championships because she was in the same group as an athlete from the Zionist regime," ISNA news agency reported.

It added that Goudarzi had been due to face the Israeli competitor in the first round.

Iranian officials protested against placing an Iranian athlete in the same group as an Israeli, but the World Taekwondo Federation said it could not alter the competition schedule, the agency added.

Last month, Goudarzi won a bronze medal for Iran in the women's under 51 kg category at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh.

In August 2023, authorities handed Iranian weightlifter Mostafa Rajaei a lifetime ban after he shook hands with an Israeli competitor at an event in Poland.

Young chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja left Iran after the national federation barred him from the 2019 world championship out of concern he might face an Israeli player.

He is now a naturalised French citizen.

In 2021, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged athletes "not to shake hands with a representative of the (Israeli) criminal regime to obtain a medal".

In June, Iran and Israel went to war for the first time after Israel launched an unprecedented attack against Iran, triggering a 12-day conflict in which the United States joined with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.