TEHRAN -- Iran has called for the release of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at the U.S. president.

The Office of the Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Press Affairs issued a statement saying Muntadar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at George W. Bush because of the United States’ warmonger policies.
Using the façade of democracy and human rights, the U.S. administration has taken a hateful, deceptive, and aggressive stance toward the world’s nations.
“Historical memory won’t forget the current U.S. president because of the violent crimes of the U.S. occupiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and his support for the Israeli regime and hundreds of other crimes,” the statement noted.
“The shameful incidents and horrible tortures used in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Israel, and other prisons through the support and on the orders of the United States are sufficient to bring George W. Bush to trial in international courts as a war criminal.”
“While the Iraqi and Afghan people face insecurity, poverty, the flouting of their basic human rights, and the plunder of their national resources, Bush the younger calls himself the upholder of these people’s rights and speaks about freedom and human rights.”
The statement noted that it is difficult to ascertain what is really happening in Iraq, Afghanistan, and occupied Palestine in recent years because of media censorship by the U.S. government.
Bush insulted the people of the world, who are aware of the atrocities committed by the U.S. government and its hegemonistic attitude, which is influenced by the Zionist lobby, and Muntadar al-Zaidi only acted on behalf of millions of oppressed Iraqis, and his action was appreciated by people all over the world, even Americans, the statement added.
In conclusion, the office of the deputy culture minister called on all journalists’ associations and international media outlets to make every effort to liberate the imprisoned journalist