Salman Rushdie - live: Iran condemned for ‘sickening’ statement blaming author for attack
Author, 75, was target of ‘fatwa’ by Iranian religious leaders over 1988 book The Satanic Verses
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Iran has been condemned by a senior UK politician for its "sickening" claim that Sir Salman Rushie has no one to blame but himself for getting stabbed.
David Lammy, the UK's shadow foreign secretary, urged the government to urgently put "diplomatic pressure" on the Iranian government to apologise for the remarks.
"It is truly sickening that the Iranian government has the audacity to blame Salman Rushdie and his supporters for the brutal attack on his life," Mr Lammy said.
Earlier, Iran sought to distance itself from the attack.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said that Sir Salman, attacked in New York state on Friday night as he prepared to deliver a lecture on freedom of expression,.
“Salman Rushdie and his supporters are to blame for what happened to him,” he said. “Freedom of speech does not justify Salman Rushdie’s insults upon religion and offence of its sanctities.”
A fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to kill the author was issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the then Iranian leader, in 1989 - a year after Satanic Versus was published. It was never revoked
'Attack on Rushdie only felt real when I saw blood,’ host says
The attack on Salman Rushdie “looked like a sort of bad prank,” according to the host of the event where the author was repeatedly stabbed on Friday.
Henry Reese, who was preparing to host the event on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution, was speaking to Brian Stelter of CNN’s ‘Reliable Sources’ and appeared on TV with a bandage above his eye.
“It didn’t have any sense of reality, and then when there was blood behind him, it became real,” Mr Reese said.
Mr Rushdie, who was stabbed multiple times in the neck and stomach with puncture wounds to his eye and chest, remains in critical condition in hospital.
He has been taken off a ventilator, and his family and agent have said that his condition is improving.
Zafar Rushdie says his father Salman ‘able to say a few words’
Salman Rushdie’s son Zafar said that the writer is “able to say a few words” since being taken off a ventilator in hospital.
He also tweeted: “Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual defiant and feisty humour remains intact.”
What is known about Salman Rushdie’s suspected attacker
Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old man born in the US, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder the day after author Salman Rushdie was attacked on Friday.
A judge ordered Matar to be held without bail after district attorney Jason Schmidt said the suspect enacted a “targeted, unprovoked, pre-planned attack”.
Matar, from Fairview in New Jersey, was born in California to Lebanese parents about a decade after the publication of The Satanic Verses – Mr Rushdie’s book for which he has had death threats since its publication in 1988.
Matar was reportedly found with a fake driver’s licence that had the name Hassan Mughniyeh.
It’s believed that he used the surname of Imad Mughniyeh – the assassinated senior Hezbollah official who was close to Qassem Soleimani, the assassinated chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
A law enforcement official cited by NBC said a preliminary review of Matar’s social media shows he had sympathies for the IRGC – which has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the US.
Authorities are looking into those alleged sympathies, but there are no concrete links between Matar and the IRGC, the law enforcement official said.
Desmond Boyle, the owner of a gym that Matar frequented, said he saw “nothing violent” about him but that he always looked “tremendously sad”.
He reportedly said: “He had this look every time he came in. It looked like it was the worst day of his life.”
Suspect’s father ‘in Lebanon refusing to speak to anyone'
Hadi Matar was born in California to Lebanese parents who have since separated.
Matar had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder after The Satanic Verses author Sir Salman Rushie was repeatedly stabbed at a literary event in the state of New York on Friday.
His father is from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, according to Ali Tehfe, the town’s mayor – who said he had no information on Matar’s parents’ political views.
But Matar’s father had returned to Lebanon several years ago and, after the attack on Sir Salman, has locked himself in his home in Yaroun and has been refusing to speak to anyone – Mr Tehfe told Reuters.
ICYMI: Police probe death threat made to novelist JK Rowling
In case you missed it...
Police said they are investigating a report of an online threat that JK Rowling received after she tweeted her well-wishes to Salman Rushdie after he was repeatedly stabbed.
Ms Rowling shared screenshots of a message from a user who had written “don’t worry you are next” in response to her tweet about Mr Salman.
The threat was sent from an account in Pakistan and appears to have been removed by Sunday morning.
Thomas Kingsley has the full story
Police investigating ‘online threat’ made to JK Rowling following Rushdie tweet
‘Don’t worry you are next,’ a user tweeted the author
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the attack on author Sir Salman Rushdie.
Iran has today tried to distance itself from the stabbing, which has sparked fears about freedom of expression.
The suspect’s mother has also spoken out about the attack. We’ll have more updates on this story as they come in.
Iran says Rushdie to blame for own stabbing
Iran has denied any involvement in the New York stabbing of Sir Salman Rushdie, arguing that only the author and his supporters are to be blamed for the attack.
Sir Salman, who has been receiving death threats for his novel The Satanic Verses, was stabbed nearly 10 times, including in the neck and the abdomen, on Friday by a man who rushed onto the stage as the author was preparing to deliver a lecture.
My colleague Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:
Iran denies involvement and says Salman Rushdie is to blame for own stabbing
Sir Salman is in critical condition after being stabbed nearly 10 times on stage
Mother of Salman Rushdie stabbing suspect says he ‘changed’ after Middle East trip
The mother of the 24-year-old suspect accused of attempting to murder Sir Salman Rushdie says the man “changed” from being a “popular, loving son” to a “moody introvert” after visiting the Middle East in 2018.
Sir Salman, 75, was stabbed nearly 10 times, including in the neck and the abdomen, on Friday by a man who rushed onto the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in New York.
My colleague Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:
Mother of Salman Rushdie stabbing suspect says he ‘changed’ after Middle East trip
Author was stabbed nearly 10 times on stage in New York, and remains in critical condition
Margaret Atwood: Rushdie ‘embodied’ freedom of expression
Margaret Atwood has said Sir Salman Rushdie "never missed an opportunity to speak out on behalf of the principles he had been embodying all his writing life" adding that "freedom of expression was foremost among these".
The Canadian writer and two-time Booker Prize-winner, 82, is among figures from the literary world who have condemned the attack on Sir Salman, 75, in which he was stabbed at a lecture in New York on Friday.
Writing in The Guardian, Atwood, who penned the dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale, said of Sir Salman: "He has ticked every box except the Nobel prize: he has been knighted; he is on everyone's list of significant British writers; he has collected an impressive bouquet of prizes and honours, but, most importantly, he has touched and inspired a great many people around the globe.
"A huge number of writers and readers have long owed him a major debt.
"Suddenly, they owe him another one. He has long defended freedom of artistic expression against all-comers; now, even should he recover from his injuries, he is a martyr to it.
"In any future monument to murdered, tortured, imprisoned and persecuted writers, Rushdie will feature large."
Iranian institutions have incited violence
US secretary of state Antony Blinken, while not directly blaming Tehran for the attack on Rushdie, made a point to mention Iran in a statement early Monday praising the writer's efforts in supporting freedom of expression and religion.
"Iranian state institutions have incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media recently gloated about the attempt on his life," Blinken said. "This is despicable."
The White House has also condemned the attack.
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