Iranian Weightlifting Champion Awkwardly Refuses Handshake with the Medals Lady (Video)
Independent Aggregator of Iran-related News/Events, Kodoom.com: Despite their late arrival caused by a delay in securing their US visas, Iranian weightlifters have been the stars of the 2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim, California. On Tuesday, Ali Hashemi bagged another gold for Iran in men’s 105 kilogram class but in an awkward moment during the medal ceremonies refused to shake hands with the female representative of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). Upon persistence by the surprised lady, Hashemi uncomfortably explains "I am a Muslim." (Starting Minute 1:56:00 in the video)
According to Iran's strict Islamic rules, male athletes are not to shake hands with women. But weightlifters from other Islamic countries did shake hands with female representatives.
Conservative Iranian clerics who control power in Iran have imposed strict restrictive rules on athletes traveling abroad. Earlier this week, an Iranian wrestler lost a chance for a gold medal by purposefully losing a match at the U23 World Senior Wrestling Championship in Poland to avoid facing an Israeli wrestler. Iranian athletes are forbidden to compete with Israelis because Iran does not recognize Israel as a legitimate state and often refers to her as "The Occupied Palestine."
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