Iran denies any connection to the attack on Rushdie, whom it accuses of “insulting” Islam

Aug. 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Government of Iran has rejected this Monday any relationship with the attack suffered on Friday in New York by the writer Salman Rushdie, whom he has nevertheless accused of crossing “red lines” with his texts and of “insulting” Islam.

Rushdie has been in Iran’s crosshairs since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 openly calling for his assassination for the publication of ‘Satanic Verses’, considered blasphemous in parts of the Muslim world.

The edict of the founder of the Islamic Republic is still in force today and the press linked to the Iranian clerical establishment did not hesitate to celebrate Rushdie’s stabbing, but this Monday, in its first official assessment, the Iranian Government has distanced itself from the aggression per se.

The spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Naser Kanani, has assured in a public appearance that Tehran has no relationship with the assailant, identified as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man of Lebanese origin, according to the Mehr agency.

Kanani, however, has spared no criticism against Rushdie, whom he has accused of “exposing himself” with his writings to the “anger” of Muslims and followers of other religions, crossing all kinds of “red lines”.

The British writer of Indian origin remains in a New York hospital and, although his condition is serious, he is progressing favorably and since Sunday he no longer needs to be connected to an artificial respirator.