How 27-second knife attack nearly cost Salman Rushdie his life after surviving decades of death threats

Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie had settled into a calmer, relatively normal way of life following a decade of death threats under Iran’s infamous fatwa.

The 77-year-old had even opted for ever-lighter security arrangements in recent years, as the death sentence placed on his head by Iran’s supreme leader in 1989 appeared to be a thing of the past.