Salman Rushdie at the Vanity Fair party for the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival 01 May 2012 (Source: Wikipedia Commons)

By  Gary  Raynaldo    –  DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Iranian state institutions have “incited violence”  against Salman Rushdie for generations, while state-affiliated media “recently gloated” about the attempt on his life.  “This is despicable”, Blinken said in a statement released Sunday, two days after the internationally renowned  author was attacked and stabbed on stage at a literary festival in New York. Rushdie was stabbed about 10 times in his neck and body as he prepared to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York on Friday. Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old accused of stabbing Rushdie pled not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault with a weapon in what prosecutors called a premeditated and targeted attack.  Rushdie, 75-years-old,  was removed from a ventilator Saturday after undergoing emergency surgery, and is left with severe injuries.   In  1989,  Rushdie published his  book The Satanic Verses that was deemed as blasphemy by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.  The Iranian leader issued a fatwā (a ruling on Islamic law) for his assassination, offering a $3 million bounty for whoever kills him. 

“We join those across the country and around the world who are keeping Salman Rushdie in our thoughts in the aftermath of this heinous attack. More than a literary giant, Rushdie has 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 speech and incitement to violence. Specifically, Iranian state institutions have incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media recently gloated about the attempt on his life.  This is despicable.”

-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

United States Secretary of State  Antony Blinken (US Department of State)

The Secretary of State added that the U.S. and its partners “will not waver in our determination to stand up to these threats, using every appropriate tool at our disposal.”   Blinken said the strength of Rushdie — and that of all of those around the world who have endured such threats — “steels our resolve and underscores the imperative of standing united as an international community against those who would challenge these universal rights.”

IRAN Denies Involvement But Justifies Attack on Rushdie

An Iranian government official denied on Monday that Tehran was involved in the assault on  Rushdie, though he justified the stabbing in remarks that represented the Islamic Republic’s first public comments on the attack. Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, made the remarks in a briefing to journalists. “We categorically deny” any link with the attack, Kanaani said. “No one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran.”   Kanaani added:

“In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation. By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than one and a half billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people.”

–Nasser Kanaani, spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry