U.S. Sanctions Iran-Based Foundation For Bounty On Salman Rushdie
The Treasury Department said the 15 Kordad Foundation committed millions of dollars to the effort to kill Rushdie.
(Bloomberg) -- The US sanctioned an Iranian foundation it said has sponsored a multimillion-dollar bounty on the life of author Salman Rushdie, who was seriously wounded and hospitalized following an attack during an August event in New York.
The Treasury Department said the 15 Kordad Foundation committed millions of dollars to the effort to kill Rushdie following a 1989 fatwah for his death issued by Iran’s then-supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and raised the bounty to $3.3 million from $2.7 million in 2012.
“The United States will not waver in its determination to stand up to threats posed by Iranian authorities against the universal rights of freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of the press,” Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson, who oversees the office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a statement.
Calling the attack appalling, he condemned the praise it received from the Iranian government.
Rushdie, who has lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following the attack, was targeted for his depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses.” A suspect identified as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, has pleaded not guilty for the attack.
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