Novelist Salman Rushdie Attacked, Wounded on Stage at New York Event

Novelist Salman Rushdie interviewed during Heartland Festival in Kvaerndrup, Denmark June 2, 2018. (Reuters)
Novelist Salman Rushdie interviewed during Heartland Festival in Kvaerndrup, Denmark June 2, 2018. (Reuters)
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Novelist Salman Rushdie Attacked, Wounded on Stage at New York Event

Novelist Salman Rushdie interviewed during Heartland Festival in Kvaerndrup, Denmark June 2, 2018. (Reuters)
Novelist Salman Rushdie interviewed during Heartland Festival in Kvaerndrup, Denmark June 2, 2018. (Reuters)

Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist who was ordered killed by Iran in 1989 because of his writing, was attacked on stage at an event in New York and suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck, according to New York State Police and an eyewitness.

A man rushed to the stage at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York state and attacked Rushdie as he was being introduced, an eye witness said. A State Trooper present at the event took the attacker into custody, police said.

Rushdie was taken by helicopter to a hospital but his condition was not yet known, police said

"We are dealing with an emergency situation," a Chautauqua Institution spokesperson said when contacted by Reuters.

Rushdie fell to the floor when the man attacked him, and was then surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, seemingly to send more blood to his upper body, as the attacker was restrained, according to a witness attending the lecture who asked not to be named.

Rushdie, who was born into an Indian Muslim family, has faced death threats for his fourth novel, "The Satanic Verses," which some Muslims said contained blasphemous passages. The novel was banned in many countries with large Muslim populations upon its 1988 publication.

A year later, Khomeini, then Iran's supreme leader, pronounced a fatwa, or religious edict, calling for the killing of the novelist for blasphemy.

Rushdie went into hiding for many years. The Iranian government later backed away from the order and Rushdie has lived relatively openly in recent years. Iranian organizations, however, have raised a bounty worth millions of dollars for Rushdie's murder.

Rushdie was at the Chautauqua Institution to take part in a discussion about the United States serving as asylum for writers and artists in exile and "as a home for freedom of creative expression," according to the institution’s website.

The Wylie Agency, which represents Rushdie, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



China Says Iran's Foreign Minister Will Visit on Wednesday

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
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China Says Iran's Foreign Minister Will Visit on Wednesday

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, 18 April 2025. EPA/TATYANA MAKEYEVA / POOL

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi will visit China on April 23 at the invitation of China, the Chinese foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

The two sides will discuss bilateral relations and international and regional hot-spot issues of common concern, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.

The visit is believed to have great significance for deepening political mutual trust between the two countries, Guo told reporters.

The announcement came after the Iranian foreign ministry said on Monday that its top diplomat will visit China on Tuesday, ahead of a third round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington due on Saturday in Oman.

In a trip to Moscow last week, Araghchi told state TV that Tehran always closely consults with its friends, Russia and China, over nuclear issues.