Handshake picture deals election blow to Iranian reformist (Guardian)

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Handshake picture deals election blow to Iranian reformist

· Khatami says photo is fake but drops presidential bid
· Fundamentalists outraged at breach of convention

Robert Tait Tehran
Friday August 3, 2007
The Guardian

Iran's reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami, has
suffered a blow to his political standing by being pictured
apparently shaking hands with women in breach of Islamic
convention.

The image, taken during a visit to the Italian city of Udine
in May, triggered outrage among fundamentalists after being
posted on conservative websites and YouTube. It showed
Mr Khatami being greeted by a small group of women, none
of whom wore Islamic head-covering, and appearing to shake
the hand of one.

Mr Khatami, a mid-ranking cleric, dismissed the photo as a
fake and insisted he had not shaken hands with any of the
women who had approached him after he made a speech.

However, allies say he has been deeply wounded by the
criticism, which they say has been calculated to damage his
image as the reformist standard-bearer. His sensitivity has
prompted some commentators to question his appetite to
head the reformists' attempt to make an electoral comeback
in next year's parliamentary election. The former president
has attempted to deflect the attacks by announcing that
he will not stand in the 2009 presidential election, despite
his popularity among liberal-minded voters.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2140846,00.html

[rodeodance]

1. women as contaminated!! oh yeah!!