Jobless man hurls shoe at Iranian President

A conservative Iranian news website reported that a jobless man threw his shoes at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to protest not having received his unemployment benefits.The Monday report by Shafaf.ir is a rare example of the Iranian media reporting a humiliation reportedly suffered by the president.u00a0

The website is close to Ahmadinejad's opponents.The website identifies the man as a laid-off worker inu00a0

a textile factory in the northern city of Sari, which the president was visiting.u00a0It says that the shoes missed Ahmadinejad, and the man began to attack the government for his failure to receive his u00a0benefits.u00a0Iran officially reports its unemployment rate at aboutu00a011 per cent, but some experts say it is much higher.

>>u00a0In October, an Iranian actress was sentenced to 90 lashes and a year in jail for working in a film that highlights the limits imposed on artists in the Islamic republic. Marzieh Vafamehr was arrested in July after appearing in My Tehran for Sale, which came under harsh criticism in conservative circles. The film, produced in collaboration with Australia, tells the story of a young actress in Tehran whose theatre work is banned by the authorities. u00a0

>> An Iranian student activist has been lashed 74 times for insulting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Peyman Aref was sentenced in March 2010 to a year in jail after being found guilty of propaganda. He was sentenced to 74 lashes for writing an insulting letter to the President.

>>u00a0It all began in 2008, with an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoe at former US President George W Bush in protest against American action on Iraqis. Bush ducked and saved himself from getting hurt by a whisker.

>>u00a0Later in 2009, a Sikh journalist hurled a shoe at Home Minister P Chidambaram protesting against the CBI's clean chit to Congress leaders Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

>>u00a0In 2010, while hundreds of protesters gathered in Britain to criticise his visit while millions struggled in floods back home, a protester aimed a shoe at Zardari, but missed.

>> Anti-war protesters hurled shoes and eggs at former British prime minister Tony Blair.