An Iranian foundation has lauded the man who attacked celebrated novelist Salman Rushdie and announced that he will be rewarded with 1,000 square meters of agricultural land.
An #Iranian foundation has praised the man who attacked #SalmanRushdie. The foundation said that it will reward the attacker with 1,000 metres of agricultural land for his ‘brave action’. The 75-year-old #author lost an eye and the use of one hand following the #assault. pic.twitter.com/S10qlibIzC
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) February 21, 2023
“We sincerely thank the brave action of the young American who made Muslims happy by blinding one of Rushdie’s eyes and disabling one of his hands,” said Mohammad Esmail Zarei, secretary of the Foundation to implement Imam Khomeini’s Fatwas.
“Rushdie is now no more than a living dead person and to honor this brave action, about 1,000 square meters of agricultural land will be donated to the person or any of his legal representatives,” Zarei added.
Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by an attacker identified as 25-year-old Hadi Matar in New York in August 2022. Rushdie lost an eye and the use of one hand following the assault.
Iran blamed Salman Rushdie and his supporters for the attack on the author’s life
Soon after the reports of the attack came out, the fingers were pointed toward the fatwa that was issued in Tehran three decades ago calling for Rushdie’s assassination. Iran, trying to deny any link between the attack and the fatwa, washed its hands off the attack and instead blamed Rushdie and his supporters for the attack.
Notably, Iranian media had extensively gloated after the attack and called it ‘divine retribution’. Reacting to the media reports that Rushdie may lose one eye following the attack, Iran’s state broadcaster Jaam-e Jam said, “An eye of Satan has been blinded.” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had termed Iran’s media’s behavior ‘despicable’.
On August 15 (local time), Nasser Kanaani Tehran, foreign ministry spokesperson of Iran, categorically denied any links between the attacker and the Islamic country.
He said, “No one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Notably, he said Freedom of Speech does not give the right to Rushdie to insult Islam in his writings.
Blaming Salman Rushdie for the attack, Nasser had said, “In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation,” during his weekly press conference. He added, “By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people.”
It is noteworthy that when Satanic Verses was published, the then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, calling for his assassination, and placed a bounty of $3 million on his head. The fatwa is still active though the Iranian government has distanced itself from the decree. Later in 2012, a quasi-official Iranian religious foundation added $500,000 to the bounty.
