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Miraflores Palace via AFP - Getty Images
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets Elena FrÃas during the state funeral of her son, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 8.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have endeared himself to much of Latin America with his performance at the funeral of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, but minders of religious righteousness in his home country were unamused.
His sin — unfortunately for him captured in a photograph — transpired when he came cheek to cheek with a grieving Elena Frias, the mother of the late president, while clasping her hands. In strict Islamic societies, people are not supposed to touch others of the opposite gender unless they are related or married.
The image sparked a storm of controversy in the Iranian press, according to the English-language Iran Pulse, and went viral on Twitter and Facebook as users joked about it or speculated about how the conservative Islamic clerics back in Tehran would respond.
Their answer was swift and certain.
"In relation to what is allowed (halal) and what is forbidden (haram) we know that no unrelated women can be touched unless she is drowning at sea or needs (medical) treatment," said Hojat al-Islam Hossein Ibrahimi, member of the Society of Militant Clergy of Tehran, according to the Iran Pulse report.
Ahmadinejad was already under scrutiny by the conservative clerics who call the shots in Iran, and apparently they did not like the eulogy he gave for Chavez at the memorial ceremony.
They said it was another sign that a "deviant current" was driving the president a greater distance from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
During the eulogy, Ahmadinejad said that Chavez "will come again along with Jesus Christ and Al-Imam al-Mahdi to redeem mankind,” putting the populist Venezuelan president and ex-paratrooper in the ranks of holy figures.
Mohammed Dehghan, a member of the Iranian parliament, called for religious scholars to confront Ahmadinejad’s "un-Islamic" acts, Al-Arabiya reported.
Some Shiite religious figures admonished the Iranian president to become better educated about his religion. Others urged him not to make religious references for the rest of his campaign for re-election, while his supporters said the whole uproar was a part of a smear campaign.
A second controversial photograph surfaced that appeared to be of Ahmadinejad attending the funeral in Caracas last week, but it turned out to be a fake that amateurishly Photoshopped the Iranian president in a cheek-to-cheek moment with the former director-general of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei.
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I don't even like the guy but what the hell? Really, he was lending comfort to a grieving woman that is old enough to be his mother.
what dose it matter how old she is.
He's obviously into older women .Why should anyone give him a break ? He doesn't give anyone else any mercy .
You are strictly forbidden in Islam from touching a woman, regardless of age. Lets now see if there will be a double standard
He should be at the very least, stoned to death. He shows no mercy. Why should he be shown mercy.
What a JOKE. Is this what we have progressed to? GOD forbid he showed compassion to a Grieving wife. Remember all you non believers and the believers, it say's God created Woman from Adams rib. Not from the Skull, foot,hand or back. So you don't place her over your head, under your feet, back or front of your hand, behind you so many paces. The RIB, so she stands next to her Man as equal to raise the family & praise God. God has given the man to lead his family, but your to lead your family to GOD not away. If half the Blind world would just read their Bibles. For the Non believers. If there is no GOD your gonna be OK. However if there is a GOD (which there is) wouldn't you want to be in his Grace and Mercy? To the folks who are Judging where somebody goes. How do you know Hugo didn't ask Christ for forgiveness? Seems Christ is the only one forgiving these days. Better think, before you open.
Mac
that bering so, is he allowed to marry the woman under Islamic Laws in order to wash his sins clear????
.
Won't that be a kick if the mullahs have Ahmadinejad whipped or stoned.
.
Next thing you know, We will find out that Ahmadinejad really is Jewish. A member of the Zionists that he constantly reviles. It has been a secret up till now.
if the Muslims want people to do in their country the way they do it then when they are in someone Else's country they do it the way they do it. these S.O.B.'s want it the same everywhere. they can't have it one way. they should respect other people the way the want to be respected. that's one reason why i am not liking this Muslim thing. and she could have came to him to what is he going to do push her away . that would be worse yet. a picture is nothing really.
Cheetah, yes, I'll have a beer, thanks. [burp]
Give the little douche bag a break. It's not like he grabbed her ass. It was an unguarded monent when a little humanity snuck out.
The world has too much organized religion.
I bet he got wood.
Ima set up a popcorn stand while they stone him to death ..it was obviously a come on . He probably dinked her that same night .
I'm waiting for the throng of "radical" muslims to go jihad on his ass at any moment.
What I'd like to know is what would have happened if this had happened in Iran? What if a high official in Iran died and his grieving mother was embraced by an unrelated male? What what would Ahmadinejad's reaction be? I don't think it would bode well at all. And the statement about Madhi, Jesus Christ and Chavez was pretty strange and off the wall.
Karen--yes it definitely was off the wall. A ploy without doubt because Venezuela is, after all, primarily Catholic. He was garnering favor that's all. But I do give him credit for showing a little humanity--although that too could have been a ploy to show Venezuelans that he is not that strict.
Blasphemy ! Blasphemy I tells ya !! He must be stoned!!
That's a little conservative isn't it? On the other hand, go ahead and give him a public stoning or beheading if that makes you happy.
Practice what you preach.
Give it a rest already, so he gave her a hug big deal.
He touched a girl! He's got girl cooties!
To be in 2013 and to believe that people actually believe a stupid old outdated religion is so mindboggling.
You have to expect the clerics to react like they are. They are the guardians of a religion founded by a child molesting, homo sexual, thief and pervert. They were worried ol Mahmoud would start humping her leg and embarrass the whole Iranian government.
Just like the Saudi Royal trash. All stern and righteous at home. Let em go to Europs or come to America and the hookers and liquor stores make a fortune off of them.
There is absolutely no room for human kindness or sympathy in Islam.
I never thought I would ever say this, but I side with Ahmadinejad on this one. Religion is st best, a dictatorship. Apparently in many religions, it is against religious dogma to be human, including sometimes, Christianity as well as Islam and other religions...
I was in the military for 33 years.
At Keesler AFB (and all other bases) they have an Islamic center.
The People (of Islam) will come here for training with their wives.
They make HER dress in cover and THEY (the men) dress in jeans and tee shirts.
You can find them all night in local bars and casinos.
Hypocrisy at it's finest.
No displays of humanity in Islaam, please.
What a pile of garbage in the article and many of the comments which is not unusual. Did anybody notice that he is in the last months of his term in office?! Good or bad president he makes is ONLY up to the people of Iran to decide. Get a life please and go see how much is the national debt of the US now and counting.....
Does anyone care?
Obama doesn't
The next thing you know Iran will have Samba Schools!