NewsGate Press Network

Days after writer Salman Rushdie was publicly stabbed in New York, Iran has officially distanced itself from the attack.

On Monday the 15th of August 2022, Iran “categorically” denied any link with Salman Rushdie’s attacker and in fact blamed the Booker Prize winner for bringing it upon himself.

Rushdie, 75, was injured on August 12th  after being knifed on stage during an event in New York state. He was rushed to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery.

He was later was put on ventilator, however, on Sunday many media reports suggested Rushdie he was reported “to be breathing unaided”.

“In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation,” the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said during his weekly press conference in Tehran.

Samlam Rushdie has faced years of death threats for his novel “The Satanic Verses”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani Tehran “categorically” denied any link with the attack, adding “no-one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

However, he said that freedom of speech did not justify Rushdie insulting religion in his writing.

Iran had no other information about Rushdie’s assailant except what has appeared in media, Kanaani added.

On Sunday, Rushdie’s son said the author was still in a critical condition: “Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact,” he said.

The family were “extremely relieved” when Rushdie was taken off a ventilator on Saturday, he said, adding that his father was able to “say a few words”.

The novelist was forced into hiding for nearly 10 years after “The Satanic Verses” was published in 1988. Many Muslims reacted with fury to it, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad was a grave insult to their faith.

Rushdie faced death threats and the then-Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a decree – calling for his assassination, placing a $3 million bounty on the author’s head.

The fatwa remains active, and although Iran’s government has distanced itself from Khomeini’s decree, a quasi-official Iranian religious foundation has added a further $500,000 to the reward in 2012.