Tehran - (AFP) - The violent attack against writer Salman Rushdie constitutes a conspiracy by the United States , "which seeks to spread Islamophobia in the world," according to what was reported Sunday in an Iranian newspaper, in the absence of any official comment so far from the Islamic Republic.

The British writer of Indian origin who holds American citizenship, whose blood Iran issued a fatwa in 1989 following the publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed several times Friday in New York State (northeastern United States), in an attack that drew condemnation from the West and also praises from some hardliners in Iran and Pakistan. .

On Sunday, the newspaper "Jewan", known for its extremist line, said, "Perhaps a young Muslim man who had not seen the light when Salman Rushdie wrote his satanic book wanted revenge on him."

The perpetrator of the attack, Hadi Matar, a twenty-four-year-old American of Lebanese descent, was born several years after the publication of the novel "The Satanic Verses," in which extremist Muslims see an insult to the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad.

The newspaper "Joan" touched on the hypothesis of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Americans, "in a different scenario that the United States is likely to seek to spread Islamophobia in the world."

As for "Kayhan" newspaper, "The attack on Rushdie showed the weakness of the US intelligence and proved that strict security measures cannot prevent attacks."

And it reported that "the assault on Salman Rushdie shows that revenge against criminals on American soil is not difficult."

And "Kayhan" considered that former US President Donald "Trump and Pompeo (his former foreign minister) will feel an increasing threat," given that they were "the main plotters of the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani," the former commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who died in an American raid near Baghdad in January. 2020.

The Iranian authorities have not yet commented on the attempted assassination of Salman Rushdie, 75, who is still in hospital in a serious condition.
"I do not see the hand of the Iranian state in this attack, but it is certain that this incident will increase the United States' suspicion of Iran," Thierry Covel, an expert on Iranian affairs and researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations in Paris, told AFP.