Iranian athlete refuses to 'shake hands' with Duchess of Cambridge during medal ceremony over 'cultural reasons'

London - An Iranian athlete reportedly refused to shake hands with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, after she presented him with his discus silver medal at the London Paralympic Games.

Mehrdad Karam Zadeh, 40, did not shake hands with the Duchess, choosing to keep them close to his chest.

His act was likely to have been a result of Iranian cultural convention, which bans such contact between unrelated men and women. The Duchess also appeared to have been briefed on the situation, because she did not offer her hand either.
 
A spokesman for St. James's Palace has revealed the Duchess was briefed beforehand, which is why she did not offer her hand to Zadeh.
 
"Many male athletes from Islamic countries do not shake hands in public with women they are not related to for cultural and religious reasons," the Daily Mail quoted a palace representative, as saying.
 
The Iranian delegation in London have not been available to comment on the incident, but according to the Daily Telegraph, they have told Games organisers that Zadeh was not making a political statement and was merely conforming to Iranian cultural convention, the paper said.
 
However, Middleton was warmly received on the podium by Paralympic GB's gold medal winner Aled Davies and Chinese bronze medallist Lezheng Wang, it added.