Iran has reacted cautiously to the attack on Salman Rushdie, with some citizens offering praise for the brutal stabbing, others claiming it harmed free speech, and several senior officials claiming it was a conspiracy to damage Iran’s global image.
Nuclear talks between the US and Iran were cited as a reason for the assault, which has left the acclaimed author on a ventilator in a New York hospital. Several state-aligned news organisations, meanwhile, linked the fatwa issued by late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini to the violent attack 33 years later.
Senior government figures remained largely mute as outrage surrounding the attempt to kill Rushdie continued to grow. However, many pro-regime outlets in Iraq and neighbouring Iran welcomed the attack, which has been blamed on an American man of Lebanese origin, Hadi Matar.
“Cursed Salman Rushdie is stabbed with a knife in America,” said one outlet. “The evil on the way to hell; Salman Rushdie, the renegade author of Satanic Verses, was attacked in New York,” said a second publication, Khorasan. Another state outlet quoted from a report at the time of Khomeini’s fatwa, in which his successor, Ali Khamenei, said: “The imam has fired an arrow and it will not fail until it hits its target. I believe it will hit its target.
In Iraq, a media organisation, Sabreen, which supports all pro-Iranian militias, headlined its coverage with: “Peace be upon you. The revenge of God.”
Supportive coverage of the assault spread to Lebanon, where pro-Iraninian press was quick to highlight the 1989 fatwa and Rushdie’s attempts to lay low ever since, while others endorsed a conspiracy theory that suggested Iran’s enemies had attempted to harm its brand.
Mohammed Marandi, an adviser to Iran’s nuclear negotiating team, used social media to echo the conspiracy claims: “I will not shed tears for someone who spread hatred against Islam and Muslims for years,” he said. “But is it a coincidence that just when we are on the verge of revitalising the nuclear agreement, America makes claims about an attempted assassination of Bolton and then this happens?”
Despite government sentiment apparently in support of what appears to be an attempted murder, few in Iran were prepared to put their names to their comments. “Salman Rushdie and his radical behaviour has always been a suicide mission,” said one senior academic. “He was wanted by Khomeini for insulting Islam and whoever did this now has a specific agenda to ignite chaos and tension between Sunnis, [Shias], liberals and conservatives.”
A second Iranian, a Kurd, 29, from Sanandaj, said: “Around my community in Iran, I see that the majority are not happy with what happened to him. Personally, I disagree with what happened. I believe in freedom based on sharing and expressing feelings and thoughts, but not to harm others.”
In recent years, Iranian officials had attempted to back away from the fatwa against Rushdie, claiming it was no longer a priority. However, many adherents of Khameini inside Iran and across the Shia Islamic world believed the decree to be binding.
The edict at the time came amid a revolt in the Muslim world at the publication of Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses, which some believe made blasphemous suggestions about the prophet Mohammed’s life.
“I would like to inform all the intrepid Muslims of the world that the author of the book, The Satanic Verses, as well as those publishers who were aware of its contents, are hereby sentenced to death,” Khomeini said in 1989.
Rushdie had considered his life to still be at risk, despite more than three decades passing. “And he was right,” said Haidar Moussawi, a Lebanese Shia living in Dubai. “Such a religious ruling is not delivered lightly. It can’t be made to go away.”
A posting on a pro-Hezbollah site said: “Whoever is hostile to us will be caught by the fire of our swords, even after a while.”
Reaction also spread to Kuwait, where a senior journalist said: “[Rushdie] should not expect faithful Muslims to respect his right to life when he disrespected the essence of their lives and insulted their sacred symbols.”
Additional reporting by Nechirvan Mando and Kianne Sadeq
