An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday denied that the country had any connection to the Salman Rushdie attack, Tehran’s first official statement since the violent attack and by the author himself.
Mr. Rushdie was stabbed about 10 times on Friday while speaking at the Chautauqua Institute in western New York. He suffered multiple injuries, including a damaged liver, and is expected to lose an eye.
Iran’s spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, blamed Mr. Rushdie for the attack.
According to Iran’s Student News Agency, Mr Kanaani said Mr Rushdie had crossed a “red line” and “exposed to the anger and indignation of the people”. He said that Tehran had no information about the attacker beyond what was reported in the US media.
“In this case, we are not blaming or condemning anyone but Salman Rushdie and his supporters,” Kanaani said.
Police arrested Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man from New Jersey, in the attack.
Mr. Rushdie, a famous writer, was once the subject of a work released in 1989 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then the supreme leader of Iran, who ordered the Muslims to kill him and put him to death. price to his head several million dollars. He was targeted for his novel “Verses of Satan”, which drew outrage in many parts of the Muslim world because of its depiction of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
In 1998, President Mohammad Khatami of Iran, who is considered relatively liberal, said that the country no longer supported killing. But the fatwa is still in place.
Mr. Rushdie spent many years living under police protection but lately he has been traveling freely and largely without security.
Mr Rushdie has since been taken off the ventilator and “his road to recovery has begun”, said his agent, Andrew Wylie, told The New York Times on Sunday. “It will be a long time; His injuries are severe, but his condition is on track. “.
In court on Saturday, prosecutors said the attack was premeditated. According to prosecutors, Mr. Matar took a bus to the retreat and purchased a pass that would allow him to attend Rushdie’s talk on Friday morning.
