Texas Republican senator Ted Cruz
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday Iran’s incitement resulted in the assassination attempt on author Salman Rushdie, urging Washington to stop appeasing the Iranian regime.
Cruz tweeted that “The Ayatollahs have been trying to murder Salman Rushdie for decades. Their incitement and their contacts with this terrorist resulted in an attack.”
Urging condemnation of “this vicious terrorist attack,” he said that “the Biden admin must finally cease appeasing the Iranian regime.”
On Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry denied any links with Hadi Matar, apparently a pro-Iran fanatic that stabbed the author at an event in New York state on Friday, nearly killing him. The ministry's spokesman Nasser Kanaani said, "Salman Rushdie exposed himself to popular outrage by insulting Islamic sanctities and crossing the red lines of 1.5 billion Muslims. During the attack on Salman Rushdie, we do not consider anyone other than himself and his supporters worthy of reproach, reproach and condemnation...No one has the right to accuse Iran in this regard."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was the first senior US official to mention Iran in relation to the attempted murder in a statement on Sunday.
Amid nuclear negotiations with Tehran, President Joe Biden avoided mentioning Iran in his August 13 statement condemning the attack on the renowned British-American author.
At the same time, Vice News reported on Sunday that the 24-year-old attacker had been in contact with elements of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, according to European and Middle Eastern intelligence sources.