TEHRAN, Iran � On Sept. 28, an unprecedented event in the history of relations between post-revolutionary Iran and the United States took place: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shook hands with President Barack Obama. Any such personal encounter or even the talk of an encounter is a highly sensitive issue in Tehran. Indeed, the Obama-Zarif handshake has led to severe criticism in Iran, with some hard-liners going as far as outright insulting their country�s foreign minister.

Even as hard-liners demand that Zarif apologize to the nation for crossing what they refer to as red lines, with some even calling for the foreign minister�s impeachment for greeting Obama, several members of the Iranian delegation who visited New York for the UN General Assembly insist that the handshake wasn�t a pre-planned event.

In separate interviews with Al-Monitor, several Iranian officials have revealed so far unknown aspects of the much-discussed Iranian-American encounter. These revelations also offer potential insights into why the long-sought and long-discussed handshake between Obama and President Hassan Rouhani yet again failed to take place.

A member of the Iranian delegation who visited New York and asked not to be identified told Al-Monitor, �With respect to that, President Rouhani and President Obama were giving their speeches on the same day. President Rouhani had rearranged the timing of his meetings and plans to lower the possibility of an accidental encounter with Mr. Obama.�

The senior Iranian official added, �When Mr. Zarif was shaking hands with Mr. Obama, President Rouhani was out of the UN building, meeting with the Venezuelan president. President Rouhani knew such an encounter with Obama would have happened, so he applied small changes to his agenda.�

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