State-Censored Media Reactions to Rushdie Assault 

The attempt on the life of Salman Rushdie provoked multifaceted commentary in Iran’s state-censored media, ranging from neutral descriptions of the attack in reformist newspapers to threats against former U.S. government officials in the hard-line media. However, there also appears to be some concern that the attack was staged by Iran’s foreign adversaries and will be used by them to derail the nuclear negotiations in Vienna. 

• August 12: Mohammad Marandi, public relations advisor to Iran’s team of nuclear negotiators, intimated in a tweet that the attack on Salman Rushdie was staged by opponents of the Iran nuclear deal to derail the negotiations in Vienna. 
• August 13: Under the headline “Salman Rushdie Hit by Divine Vengeance, Trump and Pompeo Next in Line,” the hard-line newspaper Kayhan, specifically naming former President Donald J. Trump, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, suggested in an editorial that, “The assault against Salman Rushdie demonstrated that exacting revenge on American soil is not so hard … Therefore, the assault against Salman Rushdie is a warning to the assassins of Commander Suleimani. Regardless of how well protected they are by security services, revenge is nigh.” 
• August 14: Reformist newspaper Etemad provided a neutral description of the attack but also referred to Marandi’s tweet. 
• August 14: Technocratic newspaper Donya-ye Eqtesad editors wrote, “Many political activists and analysts, along with some figures close to the nuclear negotiating team, are clinging to the theory that there must be something fishy, and there are some regional countries that do not want the JCPOA to be revived,” but concluded such speculation was a “conspiracy theory.” 
• August 14: Reformist newspaper Shargh’s analyst Diaco Hosseini expressed doubt the attack was staged by foreign powers but emphasized Israel will take advantage of it to derail the nuclear negotiations. 
• August 14: Centrist newspaper Jam-e Jam celebrated Rushdie’s eye injury with the headline: “Satan blinded.” 
• August 14: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece Javan claimed, “Now that the sedition of the Islamic State has been put to rest and we are witnessing the theatrical alignment of Arabs and Israel and progress in negotiations with Iran, the United States has been bereaved of any pretext to accuse Muslims of terrorism. Therefore, this act serves the purpose of restarting Islamophobia.” 

It is not the United States that is engaged in spreading Islamophobia but the likes of Kayhan, whose headlines project a violent image of Islam and Muslims. For now, the nuclear negotiations do not seem affected by the Rushdie incident, perhaps to Kayhan’s dismay. 

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