Khatami in the dock...for shaking hands with a woman.

The horror!

An Iranian religious tribunal will try former president Mohammad Khatami, a moderate Muslim cleric, and possibly ban him from preaching over a handhsake with two women during a recent trip to Italy. The court, which is charged to rule on crimes committed by clerics, will examine the lawsuit presented by a group of talabeh, theology students, from Mashhad, Iran's holiest city. Another lawsuit has also been filed by paramilitary militia Hezbollah, present in all major Iranian cities.

Political prostitute? That's harsh.

In a statement distributed to the press Wednesday, the clerics ask for Khatami's conviction for shaking "impure hands, contradicting the sacred principles of Islam"and compare the former president, who ruled from 1997 until 2005, to a "political prostitute."

Khatami claimed the footage seen on Youtube (at about the 4:20 mark) was edited to make it look like he was shaking hands with a woman.

Or he unknowingly shook her hand in a crowd.

Tell it to the judge, Mohammed.