The comments by Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, came three days after the attack on Rushdie in upstate New York. Iran has denied conducting other operations abroad targeting dissidents in the years since the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, despite prosecutors and Western governments attributing such attacks back to Tehran. “We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the US, do not think that anyone deserves to be accused and blamed except him and his supporters,” Kanani said. “No one has the right to blame Iran in this matter.” Rushdie, 75, was stabbed Friday while attending an event in western New York. He suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and eye, his agent said. He was likely to lose the injured eye. Rushdie tends to be attacked Friday at the Chautauqua Foundation in Chautauqua, New York For more than 30 years, the award-winning author has faced death threats over his novel The Satanic Verses. (Joshua Goodman/The Associated Press) His assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar of New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the attack through his attorney. The award-winning author has faced death threats for more than 30 years over his novel The Satanic Verses. Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa, or Islamic edict, calling for his death. An Iranian foundation had put up a bonus of more than $3 million for the author. Kanaani added that Iran “had no other information beyond what the US media reported.” The West “condemning the actions of the aggressor and in return glorifying the actions of the abuser of Islamic beliefs is a contradictory position,” Kanaani said.
