Months after attack on Salman Rushdie, Iran foundation rewards stabber

Months after violent stabbing attack on Salman Rushdie, an Iranian foundation has rewarded his alleged assailant, Hadi Matar.

The foundation announced that it will give 1,000 sq metres of agricultural land to the attacker.

Rushdie, who lost sight of his right eye and use of one hand, had recently given an interview.

Rushdie, 75, lived in hiding for years after Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death because of the alleged blasphemy of the novel “The Satanic Verses.” But he had long since moved about freely, with minimal security, and did not feel any sense of risk last August about appearing at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center in western New York.

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Rushdie was on stage when approached by a young man dressed in black and carrying a knife. The alleged assailant, Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder. During his New Yorker interview, Rushdie referred to Matar as an “idiot,” but otherwise said he felt no anger.

with AP inputs