Iran denies link with Rushdie’s attacker, blames writer

TEHRAN: Iran on Monday denied any link with the attacker of British author Salman Rushdie but blamed the writer himself for "insulting" Islam in the novel "The Satanic Verses".

"We categorically deny" any link with the attack and "no one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran", said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani in Tehran’s first official reaction to Friday’s stabbing.

"In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation," he said at his weekly press conference in Tehran. "By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people."

Rushdie, 75, was left on a ventilator with multiple stab wounds after the attack at a literary event on Friday in upstate New York. But by Sunday he was off the ventilator and "on the road to recovery", though with severe injuries, his agent Andrew Wylie said.

The prize-winning writer had spent years under police protection after Iranian leaders in 1989 called for Rushdie’s killing over his portrayal of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) in the novel.

The suspected assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey, was wrestled to the ground by staff and audience members before being taken into police custody. He was later arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.

On Monday his mother, Lebanese-born Silvana Fardos of Fairview, New Jersey, described Matar as "a moody introvert" who became increasingly fixated on Islam after visiting Lebanon to see his estranged father. She told the UK’s Daily Mail her son had "changed a lot" after his trip, adding that he "was angry that I did not introduce him to Islam from a young age".