A shoe was thrown at Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s motorcade on 28 September as he arrived home to a mixed reception after his historic call with Barack Obama. Iranian newspapers hailed the first contact with a US president in more than three decades as the ending of a long taboo. But his 15-minute conversation with the leader of the “Great Satan”, Tehran used to call US, was too much for some hardliners.
Nearly 60 gathered outside Tehran’s airport, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as his motorcade passed. The shoe was thrown as Rouhani stood up through the sunroof of his car to acknowledge the crowd. It failed to hit its target. Rouhani told reporters at the airport that it had been Obama’s initiative to make the call. “We were going to the airport, when I was informed that the White House had called the cellphone of our ambassador to the UN,” his office quoted him as saying. “I was informed President Obama wanted to speak to me for a few minutes.”