Editor 's note : Fareed Zakaria is a foreign affairs analyst who hosts `` Fareed Zakaria : GPS '' on CNN at 1 p.m . ET Sundays . Fareed Zakaria says the shoe-throwing incident shows Iraq is becoming a more open society . NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush has won some hearts in neighboring Iran , where one cleric dubbed the act `` the shoe intifada ( rebellion ) . Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati -- leading Friday prayers in Tehran -- hailed journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi 's now-famous fling last Sunday , when Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were holding a news conference in Baghdad . His remarks -- reported by Iran 's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency -- reflect the support many Middle East people have shown for al-Zaidi , an Iraqi correspondent for Egypt-based Al-Baghdadia TV . `` The shoe intifada in Iraq should not be overlooked easily , '' Jannati said . `` Well done to the Iraqi journalist for throwing the shoes at the U.S . president . '' Speaking to worshipers at Tehran University , Jannati labeled the shoes `` more valuable than crowns , medals and signs '' and believes they should be placed in an Iraqi museum . CNN spoke to world affairs expert and author Fareed Zakaria about the shoe-throwing incident . CNN : Do you think the shoe-throwing incident shows that Iraq is becoming an open society ? Fareed Zakaria : Yes , and President Bush was right that it represents a huge advance in freedom in the Middle East . There is quite simply no other Arab country in which that scene could have taken place . And Iraq has , in other ways , become a reasonably open and democratic society -- though still a long way from a liberal democracy as we would define it . CNN : So not a big deal -- just fodder for late-night comics ? Zakaria : Not quite -- what the shoe-throwing incident also reminded us of -- and this is something that Americans often forget -- is that whatever the gains in Iraq recently -- and they are undeniable and real -- the costs for Iraqis have been huge . We focus on the costs to America -- hundreds of billions of dollars spent , more than four thousand American lives lost there . But the costs to the Iraqis have been staggering . 2.5 million Iraqis -- 10 percent of the population -- have left the country , and only a few are trickling back . Another 2 million have been displaced from their homes . Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and wounded -- and that may be underreported . Maybe in the long run , if Iraq becomes a more decent society , these costs will fade into memory and the benefits will endure . But for now , as Muntadhar al-Zaidi 's actions showed -- it is the costs that remain front and center in the Iraq consciousness . CNN : How are Iraqis responding to the incident ? Zakaria : For many it is embarrassment -- as former U.S . Ambassador to Iraq and the current U.S . Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad says on our show -- `` I know it was painful to Prime Minister Maliki and many Iraqis who have been in touch with me since . '' And the Iraqis are going to prosecute al-Zaidi within their court system -- though they are n't completely sure how yet . CNN : But it seems like he 's become a hero for many in the Middle East . Zakaria : Yes -- and that goes back to the enormous costs that the Iraqis have faced . However , his celebrity is not limited to the Middle East . In an act of reverse cultural imperialism , his act of frustration is now taking hold in the United States . Earlier this week at a meeting of New York City 's Metropolitan Transit Authority , an angry protester was dragged out as he attempted to throw his shoe at the authority 's CEO . His last words before security got him : `` this shoe is for you ! ''
Fareed Zakaria : Shoe-throwing incident shows Iraq is becoming more open society . Incident also focuses attention on what Iraq war has cost Iraqis , he says . Zakaria says incident is an embarrassment to many Iraqis .