Fanatic’s attack on free speech

The knife attack on The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie is a reminder of the threat free, civilised societies continue to face from the evil spawned by Ayatollah Khomeini’s 1979 Iranian revolution. Mr Rushdie’s alleged attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, was US-born. But details emerging show him to be an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini, whose 1989 fatwa called on “all valiant Muslims wherever they may be in the world to kill (Rushdie) without delay, so that no one will dare insult the sacred beliefs of Muslims henceforth. And whoever is killed in this cause will be a martyr”.

Current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never resiled from the fatwa. Following Saturday’s attack, Iranian news outlets close to the Supreme Leader praised the would-be killer. They quoted Ayatollah Khamenei saying: “The arrow shot by Ayatollah Khomeini will one day hit the target.” Others in Tehran praised the attacker for his reported admiration for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Tehran’s principal vehicle for murdering opponents across the world, and the Guards’ former commander, General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US drone strike in January 2020. They also praised Mr Rushdie’s attacker for his US driving licence carrying the name of a leader of Hezbollah, the Iranian terrorist proxy in Lebanon.

The hardline Iranian Kayhan newspaper, whose editor is appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei, wrote: “The hand of the man who tore the neck of God’s enemy must be kissed. A thousand bravos to the brave and dutiful person who attacked the apostate and evil Salman Rushdie.”

After being stabbed 12 times, including in the neck, Mr Rushdie, 75, who has lived under the fatwa for 33 years, has regained consciousness and appears likely to survive, thankfully. But the lesson from the assault must be learned. Last week, US prosecutors charged Sharam Poursafi, a Revolutionary Guards Corp member, with plotting to kill former US national security adviser John Bolton. An Iranian human rights activist in New York was also targeted in an assassination attempt. Despite this, Joe Biden and his European partners are pressing on with efforts to revive Barack Obama’s flawed 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. Tehran is demanding the US and its allies delist the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. Few concessions would be more detrimental in the fight against terror. Even Mr Biden must wonder about the sense of negotiating with such a regime.