“We do not consider anyone worthy of accusing or even condemning other than him (Rushdie) and his supporters,” a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said at a press conference. Nasser Kanani.
This is Iran’s first official response since the author’s knife attack in New York on Friday. “The Satanic Verses” The patient continues to be admitted to a serious condition in which he may lose his liver, kidney, and eye.
Kananí stressed that Rushdie provoked public anger by insulting Islam. 1.5 billion Muslims.
“Salman Rushdie aroused public anger. insult to holy islam and 1.5 billion Muslims,” he said.
The spokesman did not refer to Khomeini’s 1989 fatwa calling for the assassination of Rushdie, forcing the author to spend years in hiding.
Instead, he denied links to the attacker, a teenager named Hadi Matar, who was born in the USA. Lebanese Origin, and any Iranian responsibility.
“We absolutely deny any connection to the attacker” spokesperson stated.
“No one has the right to blame Iran”the diplomat added.
Kananí also urged not to use it. Freedom of expression insulting the beliefs of others.
“Freedom of expression cannot justify abuse” divine religions and principles,” he said.
“We are asking Freedom of expression impartial,” he added.
The “Satanic Verses” aroused the anger of Shia Muslims, who saw him as a demon. Insulting the Qur’an, Muhammad and the Islamic faith Banned in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Months after its publication, Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of Rushdie and forcing the author to spend years in prison. security.
Years later, the then moderate Iranian president Mohammed Khatami He walked away from the fatwa in the late 1990s, claiming that the government did not seek Rushdie’s death.
However, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, reiterated the fatwa in 2017: “The decree continues as Khomeini issued it.”
Two years later, he would emphasize again that fatua “Cannot be undone.”