Iran has sought to play down an incident in Cairo in which a protester tried to throw a shoe at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A Syrian protester in Egypt was released on bail after trying to attack Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a shoe as he came out of a Cairo mosque.

Despite a successful start to Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to Egypt, the first by an Iranian leader since 1979, ideological, political and religious differences soon came to the fore.

On Wednesday, Mr Ahmadinejad had to listen as his host, President Mohammed Morsi, denounced Iran's close ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, at a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation. The day before, he had to endure denunciations of Iran's promotion of Shia Islam by leading Sunni clerics.

The final insult came as he left the Hussein Mosque in Central Cairo on Tuesday evening, when he was met by a small placard-waving protest by Syrians. One man tried to hit Mr Ahmadinejad on the head with his shoe, a particular insult in the Islamic world, as the group shouted: "You killed our brothers."

In fact, he struck Mr Ahmadinejad's bodyguard.

Four men were arrested, the authorities said, before being released on bail of 500 Egyptian pounds (£50).

The Iranian foreign ministry tried to make light of the incident...

The incident reflects the difficulties the Iranian regime will face as it tries to capitalize on the Islamist political success across the Arab world, and above all in Egypt.

Egypt remains committed, for the time being at least, to its security alliance with the United States as well as to its peace treaty with Israel, while it is dependent for investment from Gulf States deeply hostile to Iran. It is supportive of the Sunni-led opposition in Syria.

Mr Ahmadinejad is attempting to use his international exposure also to boost his reputation at home, where he has been increasingly marginalized by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 02/06/2013