DUBAI
\nNo one has the right to level accusations against Iran over Friday\u2019s attack on Salman Rushdie, for which he and his supporters are solely to blame, the foreign ministry in Tehran said on Monday.
\nThe novelist, who has lived under threat for decades since enraging clerical authorities in Iran through his writing, is recovering after being repeatedly stabbed at a public appearance in New York state.
\nIn Iran\u2019s first official reaction to Friday\u2019s attack, ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said freedom of speech did not justify Rushdie\u2019s insults against religion. His 1988 novel \u201cThe Satanic Verses\u201d is viewed by some Muslims as containing blasphemous passages.
\n\u201cDuring the attack on Salman Rushdie, we do not consider anyone other than himself and his supporters worthy of reproach, reproach and condemnation,\u201d Kanaani told a news briefing. \u201cNo one has the right to accuse Iran in this regard.\u201d
\nWriters and politicians around the world have condemned the attack.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that Iranian state institutions had incited violence against Rushdie for generations, and state-affiliated media had gloated about the attempt on his life.
\nThe Indian-born writer has lived with a bounty on his head since \u201cThe Satanic Verses\u201d was published in 1988.
\nThe following year, Iran\u2019s then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling on Muslims to kill the novelist and anyone involved in the book\u2019s publication.
\nThe Iranian government said in 1998 it would no longer back the fatwa.
\nBut in 2019, Twitter suspended Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u2019s account over a tweet that said the fatwa against Rushdie was \u201csolid and irrevocable\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI No one has the right to level accusations against Iran over Friday\u2019s attack on Salman Rushdie, for which he and his supporters are solely to blame, the foreign ministry in Tehran said on Monday. The novelist, who has lived under threat for decades since enraging clerical authorities in Iran through his writing, is recovering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277710,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[189,10119,1227,10151],"class_list":{"0":"post-277680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-attack","9":"tag-blame","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-salman-rushdie"},"yoast_head":"\n