Iran’s FM downplays Ahmadinejad shoe attack in Egypt

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ahmadinejad gets  a   shoe in cairoIran’s foreign ministry on Wednesday downplayed an incident in Cairo in which a protester tried to throw a shoe at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying it did not indicate Egypt’s official stance towards Tehran.

“What is important to us is the behaviour of Egyptian officials and the nation, who respect the Islamic republic as a major power,” the ISNA news agency quoted ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

On Tuesday evening, Iranian President Ahmadinejad was booed by a man who also tried to throw his shoe at him as he left Cairo’s Al-Hussein mosque following prayers.

The man, identified as a “Syrian opposition” member by ISNA, also pushed a bodyguard but he was quickly dealt with and Ahmadinejad was able to enter his car.

At the scene, four youths waved placards scrawled with slogans against Iran over its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in its 22-month conflict with rebels.

“O Ahmadinejad, do not think the Syrian blood is in vain. We will take revenge on the Shiites,” read one of the posters.

Ahmadinejad, unfazed by the incident, termed it a “minor issue”.

Talking to Egyptian media late Tuesday, the president said: “There might be some opposition in both countries who disturb the atmosphere… by prejudice and some actions,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit Cairo in more than 30 years, was given a red-carpet welcome by Islamist President Mohamed Morsi when he arrived on Tuesday.

But he faced criticism by Egypt’s top Sunni cleric who asked him not to interfere in the affairs of Gulf states.

Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the grand imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar, also urged Ahmadinejad to uphold the rights of his Shiite-ruled country’s Sunni minority, denouncing what he described as the “spread of Shiism in Sunni lands”.

Mehmanparast on Wednesday considered Ahmadinejad’s three-day visit as an “effective” step forward in bilateral ties and said it created “stability in the region”.

Ahmadinejad’s visit comes amid thawing relations between Egypt and Iran, which severed ties with Cairo in 1980 in protest at a peace treaty signed the previous year between Israel and Egypt.

Iran has been reaching out to Egypt since Islamists came to power in the wake of the 2011 revolution that ousted veteran president Hosni Mubarak, a staunch critic of Tehran.

Morsi, who hails from the powerful Sunni Muslim Brotherhood, has attended a Non-Aligned Summit in Iran, becoming the first Egyptian president to travel to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

France 24

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8 responses to “Iran’s FM downplays Ahmadinejad shoe attack in Egypt”

  1. It is interesting that all the turmoil in the world today is
    happening in the countries listed in Psalm 83 ……..Soon 10 countries will form a 10 nation confederacy out of which the anti-christ will arise……….their common denominator will be their hatred of Israel….and persecution of Christians…..Will
    they hold the world at ransom for their oil??

    Revelation 17:12-14………. 12 “The ten horns which you
    saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast……….

    Revelation 13:2-3…….2 Now the beast which I saw was like
    a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

    Revelation 13:4……. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who
    gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

    Psalm 83:……..For behold, Your enemies make a
    tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And
    consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot………..

  2. Plumbline Avatar

    It is interesting that all the turmoil in the world today is
    happening in the countries listed in Psalm 83 ……..Soon 10 countries will form a 10 nation confederacy out of which the anti-christ will arise……….their common denominator will be their hatred of Israel….and persecution of Christians…..Will
    they hold the world at ransom for their oil??

    Revelation 17:12-14………. 12 “The ten horns which you
    saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast……….

    Revelation 13:2-3…….2 Now the beast which I saw was like
    a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

    Revelation 13:4……. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who
    gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

    Psalm 83:……..For behold, Your enemies make a
    tumult; And those who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And
    consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot………..

  3. Patience2 Avatar

    Now, IF they’d been Hugo Boss, maybe, O.K.! But an Iranian deserves being slapped in the face with more than just a camel-drivers sandal! How ignominious.

  4. Patience2 Avatar

    Now, IF they’d been Hugo Boss, maybe, O.K.! But an Iranian deserves being slapped in the face with more than just a camel-drivers sandal! How ignominious.

  5. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Ahhh, the breath of the fresh democratic air sweeping through Egypt. We sure don’t want to ‘disturb the atmosphere’, do we Awkwarddimijaddi. Surely there’s only ‘some opposition’ who will be taken care of….
    And what’s in a sandal anyway, right? It’s not a shoe-bomb after all.
    But Morsi (Mursi … or whatever) didn’t chuckle I guess. Wonder if the shoe-guy still has his head.
    (Yes … apparently … for now.)

  6. 5thDrawer Avatar

    Ahhh, the breath of the fresh democratic air sweeping through Egypt. We sure don’t want to ‘disturb the atmosphere’, do we Awkwarddimijaddi. Surely there’s only ‘some opposition’ who will be taken care of….
    And what’s in a sandal anyway, right? It’s not a shoe-bomb after all.
    But Morsi (Mursi … or whatever) didn’t chuckle I guess. Wonder if the shoe-guy still has his head.

  7. disqus_e68VGiBKGC Avatar
    disqus_e68VGiBKGC

    what size was the shoe was it big enough for you mouth

  8. disqus_e68VGiBKGC Avatar
    disqus_e68VGiBKGC

    what size was the shoe was it big enough for you mouth

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