In his masterpiece “The Satanic Verses,” Salman Rushdie wrote, “From the start males used God to justify the unjustifiable.” Even perhaps Mr. Rushdie didn’t know the way true that might show in his personal life. Months after its publication, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini invoked God to “name on all valiant Muslims wherever they could be on this planet to kill [Mr. Rushdie] at once.” Final week, Hadi Matar practically ended Mr. Rushdie’s life, seemingly in reply to the ayatollah’s name. Whereas the Islamist regime in my nation and the assailant it seems to have impressed bear accountability for this assault, they have been enabled by Western coverage makers.
These of us with firsthand expertise of Tehran’s depravity have lengthy warned the West in opposition to appeasing its threats. The regime has carried out assassinations from its first day, together with of my cousin Shahriar Shafiq. When Khomeini first shamefully invoked God in his unjustifiable name for Mr. Rushdie’s loss of life in 1989, I spoke with Western media and leaders about holding the regime to account for this wanton name to violence.
