“We have seen nothing else about the person who carried out this act other than what we have seen from the American media. We categorically and seriously deny any connection of the perpetrator with Iran,” Kanaani said, according to Iranian state media . Rushdie, an acclaimed Indian-born British author, has received death threats for decades after Iran issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for his death following the publication of his book “The Satanic Verses” in 1988. He spent nearly a decade living under British protection before moving to the United States in recent years and was repeatedly stabbed during an attack on a stage in western New York on Friday. The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted second-degree murder and other charges. Although Iran did not officially comment on the attack over the weekend, several hardline Iranian newspapers praised the suspect on Saturday — including the conservative Kayhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “A thousand bravos, a hundred God bless. His hand must be kissed … Bravo to the warrior and obedient who attacked the Apostate and evil Salman Rushdie. The warrior’s hand must be kissed. He tore the vein of Rushdie’s neck, ” the newspaper reported. Another hardline newspaper, Khorasan, ran a headline, “The Devil on the Path to Hell,” while showing a photo of Rushdie on a stretcher. Rushdie — the son of a successful Muslim businessman in India — was educated in England, first at Rugby School and later at Cambridge University where he received a master’s degree in history. The publication of ‘The Satanic Verses’ in 1988 made him a household name and brought him fame. Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa against him a year later. The bounty against Rushdie has never been lifted, but in 1998 the Iranian government tried to distance itself from the fatwa, pledging not to seek to implement it. But in February 2017, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed the religious decree. And in 2019, Khamenei tweeted that Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie was “firm and irrevocable,” prompting Twitter to place restrictions on his account. CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.
