Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said the attack on Rushdie was a ‘chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism.’
A U.S. citizen who sympathized with Hezbollah and the Iranian regime was convicted on July 29 of federal terrorism charges linked to the stabbing in 2022 of writer Salman Rushdie.
Former Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989 after he penned the novel “The Satanic Verses.” [AP, delete]
Hadi Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction in the stabbing.
Mattar, who repeatedly stabbed Rushdie as he was about to give a lecture on writers’ safety in Chautauqua in western New York on Aug. 12, 2022, was found guilty of engaging in an act of transnational terrorism and several other charges by a jury in Buffalo, N.Y. His federal sentencing is set for Nov. 3.
Rushdie, who was stabbed 15 times, was seriously injured and lost sight in his right eye.
Matar never gave any reasons for the attack, but federal prosecutors told the jury he was motivated by a decades-old fatwa issued by Khomeini, who had accused Rushdie of blasphemy.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement that Matar had spent more than a year immersing himself in Hezbollah’s violent ideology and preparing to act on the fatwa.
“His brutal attack on Mr. Rushdie during a peaceful speaking event is a chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism,” Eisenberg said.
‘Justice Has Been Done’
“With today’s verdict, justice has been done, and Matar will pay for his crimes,” Eisenberg said.
Matar could be jailed for life when he faces his federal sentencing hearing in November.
The Iranian regime—which has never formally rescinded Khomeini’s fatwa—has denied any involvement in the attack on Rushdie.
During the trial, Matar’s attorney, Nathaniel Barone, said the government could not prove what had motivated his client to carry out the attack.
Barone told jurors, “You’re going to have to ask yourselves: What was Hadi Matar’s intent?”
The prosecution said Matar’s writings and communications proved he was acting out of loyalty to the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, a Tehran-backed proxy based in Lebanon.
Matar, who lived in Fairview, N.J., also holds Lebanese citizenship, and prosecutors told the jury that photographs in his bedroom and on his computer indicated his support for Hezbollah.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch said in an opening statement on July 22 that Matar initially wanted to expose Rushdie but wrote, in a private note to himself, “We need to kill him ASAP.”
Matar—who chose not to testify in his own defense—was convicted of engaging in an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization, and providing material support to terrorists.
As for Rushdie, who did testify, he said, “I can’t say what his ambitions or his aim was, but the wounds were dispersed across my body.”
Michael DiGiacomo, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, said Rushdie survived thanks to “courageous members of the public and law enforcement.”
