Activists and community leaders say the stabbing of Salman Rushdie is a high-profile example of how the Iranian regime can pose a real threat even outside of the Middle East
Iranian-Canadian activists and community leaders say the stabbing attack of Salman Rushdie is a high-profile example of how the Iranian regime can pose a real threat to them, even outside of the Middle East.
The motive behind Mr. Rushdie’s stabbing in western New York state has not been confirmed, but Iranian community leaders in Canada said the influence that the Iranian government has had against Mr. Rushdie can’t be understated. A fatwa, or religious decree, calling for Mr. Rushdie’s death was first declared by Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s then-supreme leader, in 1989, after his bookJason Schmidt, the district attorney in the court proceedings against Mr.
“As a refugee lawyer, I see it all the time where someone from Iran is fleeing, comes to Canada and there are people in Canada making threats to them,” said Mr. Joubin, who said there have been previous attacks against Iranian immigrants in the Western world that have links to the Iranian regime, such as the killing of three Iranian opposition leaders and a translator in a Berlin restaurant in 1992.
In Iran, reaction was mixed after the stabbing of Mr. Rushdie. Some Iranians praised the alleged assailant, while others worried whether the incident would further isolate Iran in the global community. The Iranian government was quiet after the attack, although the conservative newspaper Khorosan bore an image of Mr. Rushdie with the headline, “Satan on the path to hell.”
In Canada, Mr. Joubin said that while some Iranians are not fans of Mr. Rushdie and his book, everyone in his community was upset by the killing.
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