TEHRAN: Iran’s ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper on Saturday (August 13th) hailed the man who stabbed British author Salman Rushdie – the target of a 1989 Iranian fatwa calling for his death.
Rushdie was on life support after the attack at a literary event in New York state on Friday, more than 30 years after going into hiding following the fatwa of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
“Congratulations to this courageous and duty-conscious man who attacked the apostate and depraved Salman Rushdie in New York,” writes the newspaper, whose leader is appointed by the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Let us kiss the hands of the one who tore the neck of the enemy of God with a knife”, adds the daily.
With the exception of the reformist publication Etemad, Iranian media followed a similar line, describing Rushdie as an “apostate”.
The state-run newspaper Iran said “the devil’s neck” had been “cut by a razor”.
Iranian authorities have yet to comment officially on the stabbing attack on Rushdie.