Three days after the stabbing of Salman Rushdie, author of satanic versesIran denied “categorically”, Monday, August 15, any connection with the assailant.
“We categorically deny” any connection between the aggressor and Iran, and “No one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran”said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani in what was Tehran’s first official reaction to the attack on the British writer.
“In this attack, only Salman Rushdie and his supporters deserve to be blamed and even condemned”he pointed out. “By insulting the sacred things of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than one and a half billion Muslims and all followers of divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to people’s anger and rage »he added.
A “despicable” reaction[e] state media, according to Washington
Salman Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it blasphemous. The following year, Ayatollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution from 1979 to 1989, issued a fatwa (religious decree) calling for the death of the author.
The fatwa was never lifted and many of Salman Rushdie’s translators came under attack. “The anger manifested at the time (…) was not limited to Iran and the Islamic Republic. Millions of people in Arab, Muslim and non-Muslim countries reacted angrily” to the work of Salman Rushdie, said the spokesman again.
He judged “completely contradictory” of “to condemn on the one hand the action of the aggressor and, [de l’autre, d’]absolve the action of one who insults sacred and Islamic things”. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Iranian state media “jubilated” after the aggression of the intellectual, considering this reaction “despicable[e] ».
The suspect pleaded “not guilty”
In Iran, the ultra-conservative daily Kayhan congratulated “that brave, duty-conscious man who attacked the apostate and vicious Salman Rushdie”. Javananother ultra-conservative newspaper, wrote on Sunday that it was a plot by the United States which wanted “probably spreading Islamophobia around the world”.
According to the latest information from Salman Rushdie’s agent and family, the British writer was on Sunday “the road to recovery” although he remains in serious condition. “The injuries are serious, but his condition is moving in the right direction”added the agent of the author.
For his part, the 24-year-old suspect is charged with “attempted murder and assault” and appeared in court in Chautauqua on Saturday evening. He didn’t say a word, according to local media, as prosecutors said the attack was premeditated. The suspect pleaded not guilty by the voice of his lawyer and will appear again on August 19.