Only Salman Rushdie & supporters to blame for attack: Iranian FM Spokesman Nasser Kanani

TEHRAN, August 15 (SABAH): Iran has said on Monday that Salman Rushdie and his supporters are to blame as it sought to distance itself from the attack last week in New York that severely wounded the writer.

“We consider no one except [Rushdie] and his supporters deserving of blame or even condemnation” for the attack, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters during a news conference on Monday.

Nasser Kanani added that Rushdie “exposed himself to public indignation” through insulting holy Islamic values and “crossing the red lines of 1.5 billion Muslims”.

“No one has a right to blame the Islamic Republic of Iran” for the attack, he said, vehemently denying reports that Tehran has had any links with the attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who pleaded not guilty in court a day after the assault.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman also accused the West, especially the United States, of exercising “double standards” when supporting freedom of expression, and said Rushdie’s undermining of Islamic values cannot be supported from religious, moral, human, or legal standpoints.

It is worth mentioning here that the 75-year-old Salman Rushdie was attacked while preparing to give a lecture. His agent Andrew Wylie said the author sustained “severe” injuries but has been taken off the ventilator and has the ability to speak.