"An Iranian athlete refused to shake the Duchess of Cambridge's hand after she presented him with his discus silver medal on Sunday. The Royal was warmly received on the podium by Paralympic GB's gold medal winner Aled Davies and Chinese bronze medallist Lezheng Wang. But when it was Mehrdad Karam Zadeh's turn to step up, the 40-year-old failed to offer a hand to the Duchess, clutching them close to his chest." - Winckel

Seems a bit unsporting. - Eithne Herd

I don't defend him but even if we ignore that he might be that religious!! there are so many restrictions for Iranian Athletes!! Who doesn't want to shake hands with her! I would have hugged her tight :D - Nemo

I'm kind of surprised that there's such a row over this. If it's part of is belief system that he cannot touch a woman he's not related to, then we can't expect him to break from that regardless of our own expectations. As long as he's not rude about it, it's fine. And from the photos he seems for all intents and purposes to still be cordial - Hookuh Tinypants

He is cordial, actually putting his hands over his chest is very respectful! Apart from his believes he might have been questioned for doing so. Couple of years ago there was such a fuss over Khatami shaking hands with women on an informal trip to Italy. Iran is a heaven on earth which is taken hostage by bunch of lunatics - Nemo

interesting to hear that view Nemo, as a foreigner I would certainly share your opinion that Iran is a country taken hostage by lunatics - Winckel