'Despicable': Blinken slams Iran soon after Rushdie stabbing

Brady Knox

August 15, 11:32 AM August 15, 11:33 AM

Secretary of State Antony Blinken singled out the Iranian authorities for criticism just after the stabbing of novelist Salman Rushdie past 7 days in advance of a lecture in New York.

In a statement introduced Sunday, Blinken expressed solidarity with Rushdie, 75, praising his get the job done and what he represents. He stressed the U.S. commitment to the rights of free of charge speech and expression when condemning the government of Iran, which has celebrated the assault.

"Although regulation enforcement officials go on to investigate the assault, I am reminded of the pernicious forces that find to undermine these legal rights, which include by way of detest speech and incitement to violence," he claimed. "Specifically, Iranian point out establishments have incited violence versus Rushdie for generations, and point out-affiliated media a short while ago gloated about the endeavor on his everyday living. This is despicable."

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Iran's ayatollah famously issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989 around the author's The Satanic Verses, a operate thought of blasphemous to several Muslims. The fatwa termed upon all Muslims to get rid of the creator or assistance these who could, even offering a multimillion-greenback reward for everyone who pulled it off.

Iranian officials and media celebrated the attack.

"Bravo to this courageous and responsibility-aware man who attacked the apostate and wicked Salman Rushdie in New York,” the conservative Tehran-centered newspaper Kayhan wrote. “Let us kiss the palms of the 1 who tore the neck of the enemy of God with a knife.”

"I would not be shedding tears for a author who spouts infinite hatred & contempt for Muslims & Islam. A pawn of empire who poses as a Postcolonial novelist," tweeted an official Iranian adviser to the Vienna nuclear offer talks.

Even with its celebrations, Iran sought to dodge blame more than the attack, pointing at Rushdie as an alternative and criticizing the West's reaction.

"We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the US, do not take into account that any individual warrants blame and accusations other than him and his supporters," mentioned Iran's Overseas Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani, in accordance to the New York Article.

He added that the West, "condemning the actions of the attacker and in return glorifying the steps of the insulter to Islamic beliefs is a contradictory mindset." Iran has no additional data on the attack apart from what Western media have claimed, he claimed.

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Rushdie experienced grave injuries in the attack, his agent Andrew Wylie claimed, which include a ruined liver, the severing of nerves in his arm, and the probable reduction of his eye. Nevertheless, he is now off a ventilator, and "his problem is headed in the correct route," the agent additional on Sunday.

His attacker, New Jersey resident Hadi Matar, is becoming held with no bail. He has pleaded not responsible to charges of attempted murder and assault.