Tehran: Iran has “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 left severely injured on August 12 after being stabbed on stage at an event in New York state. He underwent surgery and was put on a ventilator, however, on Sunday 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 said during his weekly press conference in Tehran of the writer, who has faced years of death threats for his novel “The Satanic Verses”. Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Iran’s state media of gloating about the attack, calling its behavior “despicable”.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’s insulting religion in his writing. Iran had no other information about Rushdie’s assailant except what has appeared in the media, Kanaani added. Blinken had denounced Iran’s state institutions for inciting violence against the author. He said in a statement that Rushdie had “consistently stood up for the universal rights of freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of the press.”While law enforcement officials continue to investigate the attack, I am reminded of the pernicious forces that seek to undermine these rights, including through hate.
