Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Aug 08, 2025

Iran denies role in Salman Rushdie attack but claims author is to blame

Iran denies role in Salman Rushdie attack but claims author is to blame

Foreign ministry spokesperson blames author and supporters after stabbing that left him with ‘life-changing’ injuries

Iran has denied having any role in the attack on Salman Rushdie but claimed the author had only himself to blame for crossing a “red line” over Islam in his writings.

Rushdie’s life was reported to be out of danger but he was said to have sustained “life-changing” injuries after being stabbed 10 times when he was speaking at an event on Friday in Chautauqua, New York.

Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old New Jersey man arrested at the scene, was charged with second-degree attempted murder and assault with a weapon.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, issued a statement on Sunday accusing Iran of encouraging violence against Rushdie, an Indian-born dual US and UK citizen. He was formally condemned to death by decree, or fatwa, in 1989 by Iran’s then supreme leader, Ruhollah Khomeini, after the publication of his book, The Satanic Verses, deemed to be blasphemous by Iran and other Islamic governments.

“Specifically, 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.”

Vice News cited unnamed European and Middle Eastern intelligence officials as saying that Matar had been in direct contact through social media with members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The report, however, added that there was no evidence Iranian officials had orchestrated the attack.

Hadi Matar, 24, arrives at the Chautauqua county courthouse on Saturday.


On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, said the Tehran government categorically denied any link, declaring: “No one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation,” Kanaani said at his weekly press conference in Tehran.

“By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people,” Kanaani added.

Khomeini’s fatwa was never withdrawn, and was upheld by his successor and Iran’s current supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. In 2019, Twitter suspended Khamenei’s account for a tweet in which he described Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie as “solid and irrevocable”.

“Bravo to this courageous and duty-conscious man who attacked the apostate and depraved Salman Rushdie in New York,” Kayhan, a hardline paper whose editor is appointed by Khamenei, said in an editorial. “Let us kiss the hands of the one who tore the neck of the enemy of God with a knife.”

A spokesperson for the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, said Iran’s stance was “ludicrous”.

“Clearly it’s ludicrous to suggest that Salman Rushdie was in any way responsible for this abhorrent attack on him,” they said.

“This was not just an attack on him, it was an attack on the right to free speech and expression. And the UK government stands both by him and his family but equally we will stand in defence of free speech around the world.”

The shadow UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, also condemned the comments, saying they were “truly sickening”.

The attack took place as the future of a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and major powers hangs in the balance. Iran has said it will give a formal response by the end of Monday to an EU proposal on how to revive the deal, which has steadily disintegrated since Donald Trump withdrew the US in 2018.

“Our answer will be given to the EU tonight at 12 midnight,” the foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said. “There are three issues that, if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days.”

US conservatives have called on the Biden administration to withdraw from the negotiations after the attack on Rushdie, and the unveiling of charges last week against an IRGC member alleged to have plotted to assassinate Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton.

The Biden administration has insisted, however, that the nuclear issue should be treated separately from other points of conflict between the two nations.

Rushdie was stabbed three times in the neck, four times in the stomach, once in the right eye and once in the chest, and had a slash to his right thigh.

“The injuries are severe,” his literary agent, Andrew Wylie, said in an email to the Guardian. “But his condition is headed in the right direction.”

In a statement on behalf of the family, the writer’s son, Zafar Rushdie, said: “We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and he was able to say a few words.

“Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
×