Iran denies involvement in Rushdie’s attack, saying it was self-inflicted

Iran denies involvement in Rushdie’s attack, saying it was self-inflicted

Iran denied on Monday that it was involved in last week’s attack that left author Salman Rushdie seriously injured after he was stabbed in the neck and abdomen on stage at an event in West New York. In its first public response to the stabbing, Iran blamed Rushdie and his supporters for the attack, more than three decades after Tehran ordered Muslims to kill Rushdie over his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses

The Satanic Verses is on a ventilator after being stabbed at least twice, including one in the liver. According to his agent, he is expected to lose one eye. The 75-year-old novelist was educated in England, first at Rugby School and later at the University of Cambridge, where he received a master’s degree in history.

He later spent a decade under British protection after his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, prompted Iran’s 

supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to issue a religious edict, or fatwa, calling for his death.

The bounty against Rushdie was never lifted, however in 1998 the Iranian government sought to distance itself from the fatwa by pledging not to seek to enforce it.

“Salman Rushdie has been the target of his words for decades, but he has never flinched or wavered,” Nossel said. “He devoted tireless energy to helping others who were vulnerable and at risk.”