TEHRAN, Iran – Iran on Sunday condemned Britain’s decision to knight Salman Rushdie, the author who was forced into hiding for a decade after the leader of the Iranian revolution ordered his assassination.
Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said granting Britain’s highest honor to Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” sparked the death threat, insulted the Muslim world. His comments came during a time of especially tense relations between the Islamic republic and the West.
“Awarding a person who is among the most detested characters in the Islamic society is obvious proof of anti-Islamism by ranking British officials,” Hosseini said.
Rushdie went into hiding after Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or religious edict, ordering Muslims to kill the author because contents in “The Satanic Verses” were offensive to Islam.
The Iranian government declared in 1998 that it would not support but could not rescind the fatwa. Rushdie says he receives a “sort of Valentine’s card” from Iran each year on Feb. 14 letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to end his life.
Britain announced its decision to award Rushdie a knighthood on Saturday, and the author said he was “thrilled and humbled” by the recognition.
Rushdie’s 13 books have won numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for “Midnight’s Children” in 1981. In 1993, the novel won the “Booker of Bookers,” a special award honoring the best novel in the 25-year history of the prize.
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