Iran conservative media hail Salman Rushdie attacker

Salman Rushdie still on ventilator, may lose an eye

 Iranian ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan on Saturday hailed the man who stabbed British author Salman Rushdie -- the target of a 1989 Iranian fatwa calling for his death.

Mr. Rushdie was on a ventilator after the attack during a literary event in New York state on Friday, more than 30 years after he went into hiding following late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa.

“Bravo to this courageous and duty-conscious man who attacked the apostate and depraved Salman Rushdie in New York,” wrote the paper, whose chief is appointed by current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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“Let us kiss the hands of the one who tore the neck of the enemy of God with a knife,” the daily added.

With the exception of reformist publication Etemad, Iranian media followed a similar line, describing Mr. Rushdie as an “apostate”.

State-owned paper Iran said that the “neck of the devil” had been “cut by a razor”.