JEDDAH — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing a lot of criticism on social media after new photographs purporting to show him shaking hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif emerged.

Trudeau, who was caught on camera appearing to mock US President Donald Trump in front of world leaders on the sidelines of the NATO Summit, was, however, courteous to the Iranian minister, the pictures revealed.

Canadian PM’s meeting with Zarif on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday sparked fury online given that Iran shot down a passenger plane last month near Tehran killing all 176 on board, including 57 Canadians. Since then, it has refused to hand over the black boxes recovered from the crash site.

Meanwhile, Iranian state propaganda platforms boastfully posted images of the meeting.

Trudeau was questioned by reporters following the meeting on Friday about why he stopped in on the scheduled meeting between Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Zarif, but the defended the move.

“I made a promise to families in Canada to do everything I could to make sure that they get answers, that we have a full and complete investigation, that we understand exactly what happened,” he said.

“I went by to impress upon the foreign minister of Iran how important it is that we work together.”

News of the handshake and meeting prompted academics, political critics and human rights activists to question Trudeau’s decision. — Agencies