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The prickly relationship between Washington and Tehran eased slightly over the weekend, as the Iranian foreign ministry announced the country would, after all, issue visas for the US wrestling team.

Just two days earlier, Iran had responded to President Trump鈥檚 executive order banning visas for citizens of seven nations 鈥撎齣ncluding Iran 鈥� by declaring a ban on visas for the US team, which had been planning to travel to the country in mid-February for the Freestyle World Cup.

But on that same day, a US federal judge in Seattle announced he would temporarily block Mr. Trump鈥檚 order nationwide. That decision was one of the factors leading Iran to reverse its stance on the wrestlers, as Reuters reports.听

Some in Tehran had been critical of the initial Iranian response, saying their country should instead do the opposite of Trump and welcome the wrestlers with open arms. Over the past two decades, competitors from both nations have entered each other鈥檚 countries numerous times to wrestle, irrespective of the political climate between their governments.

鈥淲e don't think politics (should) have any role in this,鈥� USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender said, according to the Associated Press. 鈥淏ut, unfortunately, sometimes you can't control that.鈥�

Where the saga will go next is uncertain, with US policy set for a showdown in San Francisco鈥檚 federal appeals court. Already, Minnesota and Washington State 鈥� the two states that initially went to court to seek a restraining order on Trump鈥檚 immigration ban 鈥� have filed their arguments; the US Justice Department has until 3 p.m. Monday to do the same.

The Californian court leans to the left,听suggesting it may rule in favor of maintaining the hold on Trump鈥檚 ban, as Bloomberg reports. But some observers expect the losing side could petition the听nation鈥檚 Supreme Court to intervene,听asking justices to take on听the broader question of how much power the executive branch can wield over issues of immigration and national security.

鈥淥verturning the [Seattle] ruling would cause such anguish and confusion at the borders,鈥� Jayashri Srikantiah, a Stanford Law School professor who specializes in immigration, . While she added that it鈥檚 鈥渆xtremely hard to bet鈥� on what the appeals court will do, she also pointed out that 鈥渙ne can imagine the confusion caused by reversing the [temporary restraining order] is something the court is taking into consideration.鈥�

Immigration bans are just one area in which the relationship between Tehran and Washington is feeling the pressure. Just over a week ago, Iran carried out a ballistic missile test, prompting a tweet from Trump saying the country was 鈥�,鈥� and drawing fresh sanctions from the US.

An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said Monday that the missile launch was not intended as a 鈥渕essage to the new US government,鈥澨�. Mr. Qasemi went on to say that Iran had no need to test Trump as they 鈥渉ave heard his views on different issues in recent days.... We know him quite well.鈥�

As for the US wrestlers, assuming there are no further changes on the visa front, they will be winging their way to the Iranian city of Kermanshah to test their mettle in one of world wrestling鈥檚 most prestigious events, set to take place Feb. 16 to 17.

This report includes material from the Associated Press and Reuters.