52 Iranians to compete in Olympics

Among the competitions the Iranian Olympians will participate in are freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, taekwondo, judo, weightlifting, archery, track and field, discus, rowing, boating, cycling, table tennis, boxing and shot-put.

Iranian basketball players will head to Beijing on August 2 as the first delegation to arrive at the Olympic venue.

The final sport delegation will be the wrestlers and taekwondo fighters who will join their peers at the games on August 23.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will open on August 8, 2008.

With just five weeks before the Olympics Games begin, controversy over the participation of the world leaders at the games continues to brew.

Olympic executives in China are racing against time to prepare for the games but the host has come under fire for a string of mostly politically motivated arguments.

Most Western political leaders have kept the world guessing as to their appearance at the games.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, has announced he is not likely to attend the Olympic opening ceremony but is committed to showing up for the Paralympic Games.