A spokeswoman for Iran’s foreign ministry, in response to the stabbing of Salman Rushdie on Friday (12 August 2022), denied any link between the Iranian government and Hadi Matar, the prime suspect in the assassination.
Jeremy Schanzer
Jeremy Schanzer
@JSchanzer
Out of interest, I took a quick look at the Amnesty, HRW and ACLU timelines to see how they had responded to the attack on Salman Rushdie. Turns out they didn’t say anything at all. Not a single tweet
was posted about the intellectual assault motivated by a rogue state. Where have these NGOs gone?
Nasser Kanaani, an Iranian government official, claimed on August 15, 2022 that Iran was not involved in what was then described as an “assassination.”
Suspicions have been raised since Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late Iranian Supreme Leader, issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie in 1989 in response to the publication of his controversial book, The Satanic Verses, which sparked controversy.
Hadi Matar’s social media background and his support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a division of the Iranian Armed Forces, also raised suspicions of Iranian government involvement.
Clinton, Bill
Clinton, Bill
@Bill Clinton
Salman Rushdie has lived a brave life, refusing to be silenced by intimidation, his writing, or the values he espouses. He is in my thoughts and I hope for his recovery.
Salman Rushdie is not on a ventilator and is reportedly slow to recover from the stabbing, according to ABC.
Iranian government responds to Salman Rushdie attack
While Iranian government officials have denied any involvement in planning the attack, many people have welcomed the attempt to kill Salman Rushdie.
Berg Neuer
Berg Neuer
@ HillelNeuer
Amnesty International was silent on Salman Rushdie.
Nasser Kanaani said in a public statement that he felt Rushdie was attacked fairly. He explained:
We believe that no one, including Salman Rushdie and his supporters, deserves criticism, blame or even condemnation in relation to the attack against him in America.
Canaani continued:
“No one can hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable in this regard. We think that the insults he received and the support he received were directed at all religious believers. By flouting the sanctity of Islam and going against the beliefs of more than 1.5 billion Muslims, as well as the beliefs of followers of all divine religions, Salman Rushdie exposed himself to the wrath of the general public.
Kanaani went on to state that while Iran was not at fault, Rushdie’s own actions led to the attack.
cable spy
cable spy
@Spy5Wire
Salman Rushdie’s attempted murder by an Islamic madman has not received much attention from the Labor Party front bench. Why, I wonder?
According to the BBC, the Iranian media outlet Jaam-e Jam also praised Hadi Matar’s alleged actions. The Iranian media called it retaliation after Rushdie’s agent warned that Rushdie could suffer permanent eye damage.
Robert Moran
Robert Moran
@bobscartoons
Though disturbing and heartbreaking, Salman Rushdie’s narration seems only the latest justification for journalists to reach unprecedented levels of depraved hypocrisy after destroying freedom of expression and human rights for the past two years.
The announcement said:
“The devil’s eye was blinded.”
Iran’s response to the strike was denounced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken as follows:
Official media recently applauded the attack on Rushdie’s life, and Iranian state institutions have long called for violence against him.
He went on to call Iran’s response “despicable.”
President-elect Kamala Harris
President-elect Kamala Harris
@VP
This week’s attack on author Salman Rushdie horrified Doug and I. The basis of any free and open society should be people’s ability to freely exchange ideas. Hatred and violence have no place.
The release of The Satanic Verses has previously been linked to acts of violence. The novel’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was fatally assassinated in his office in Tsukuba, Japan, in 1991.