Iranian students gear up solar car to compete in U.S. challenge

Clouds may still linger over relations between Washington and Tehran, but that’s not stopping a group of Iranian students and their teachers from gearing up for a summer road trip through the American heartland.

Fueled by the sun and their hopes to shine in a first for the Islamic Republic, the 19-strong team is preparing to bring an Iranian solar car to compete in the United States for the first time in the American Solar Challenge in July.

The flat, rectangular Havin-2, or Brilliant Sun, drove for tests alongside slightly larger gas-powered motor vehicles last week on a stretch of highway in Iran’s mountainous north, ahead of the eight-day, 2,700-kilometer race that will take it from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

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Iranian students gear up solar car to compete in U.S. challenge