Hardline Newspapers in Iran Praise Salman Rushdie’s Attacker

As much of the world reacted with horror to the stabbing of novelist Salman Rushdie, hardline Iranian newspapers and ordinary Iranians celebrated the attack on the author who has lived under death threats since 1989.

“Satan on the path to hell,” the conservative newspaper Khorasan blared above a picture of Rushdie on a stretcher.

“A thousand bravos … to the brave and dutiful person who attacked the apostate and evil Salman Rushdie in New York,” the hardline Kayhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, wrote, adding, “The hand of the man who tore the neck of God’s enemy must be kissed.”

“I don’t know Salman Rushdie, but I am happy to hear that he was attacked since he insulted Islam,” said Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old deliveryman in Tehran. “This is the fate for anybody who insults sanctities.”

Rushdie, 75, is on a ventilator  and unable to speak in a hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was flown by helicopter after he was stabbed as he was going onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY, about 55 miles south of Buffalo. Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, was arrested at the scene.

The British-Indian writer was the target of a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for his death in 1989 after the publication of the novel, “The Satanic Verses.”

The book was inspired by the life of the prophet Mohammed and the title taken from a group of verses in the Koran that refer to three pagan goddesses. It outraged Muslims, who accused it of blasphemy and mocking their faith. Rushdie lived in hiding for years after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the edict calling for his death.

After Khomeini’s death, an Iranian religious foundation put a bounty on Rushdie’s head that has grown to $3.3 million. In 2019, Twitter suspended current leader Khamenei’s account over a tweet that said Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie was “solid and irrevocable.”

The Asr Iran news site on Saturday carried an often cited quote by Khamenei that said the “arrow” shot by Khomeini “will one day hit the target.”

There was no official reaction yet in Iran to the attack on Rushdie.

Born in the U.S., Matar’s family comes from the southern Lebanon village of Yaroun, which is just miles from the border with Israel, which has fired on what it says are positions of the Iran backed Hezbollah militia in the area.

Law enforcement has not stated a motive for the attack, but sources told The Post that Matar was sympathetic to the Iranian government.

Early Saturday, Iranian state media pointed out that another man was killed while trying to carry out the fatwa. Lebanese national Mustafa Mahmoud Mazeh died when a book bomb he had prematurely exploded in a London hotel on Aug. 3, 1989, just over 33 years ago.

While many in Iran cheered the attack, some were concerned that it would further damage Iran, where the economy continues to struggle under harsh sanctions and efforts to revive the tattered nuclear deal had yielded little progress.

“I feel those who did it are trying to isolate Iran,” said Mahshid Barati, a 39-year-old geography teacher. “This will negatively affect relations with many — even Russia and China.”

 With Post Wires

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