Thread by @HeshmatAlavi

#BREAKING
Salman Rushdie has been stabbed on stage in New York

Back in 1989, #Iran's first supreme leader, Khomeini, had issued a fatwā (religious order) calling for his assassination.

This comes after revelations of #Iran's IRGC plotting to assassinate former John Bolton and Mike Pompeo.

"The regime's terrorist activities are just the other side of the coin of the regime's nuclear weapons program."

#No2Appeasement

#UPDATE
AP Author Salman Rushdie has been stabbed as he was about to give a lecture in western New York.

(Images from the scene of the attack)

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing Rushdie as he was being introduced. The author was taken or fell to the floor, and the man was restrained.
apnews.com/article/salman…

AP:
"Rushdie’s condition was not immediately known."

"A bounty of over $3 million has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie."

"In 2012, a semi-official Iranian religious foundation raised the bounty for Rushdie from $2.8 million to $3.3 million."

#Iran

#UPDATE
More images (may be graphic) from the scene showing Salman Rushdie being rushed to an ambulance.
Still no report of his status.

Periodic reminder:
Back in 2011, U.S. agents disrupted an Iranian assassination-for-hire scheme targeting Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

#Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.
nbcnews.com/id/wbna44861178

#UPDATE
Man storms the stage, attacking Rushdie & apparently either stabbing or punching him.
Eyewitnesses: Rushdie fell through a barrier to the stage & was seen with blood on his hands. The audience tackled the attacker. Rushdie was then treated onstage.
washingtonpost.com/arts-entertain…

#BREAKING
Image circulating of a man reportedly taken into custody for the attack on Salman Rushdie, according to @YWNReporter.

#UPDATE
More on the attack on Rushdie today in western New York

#UPDATE
Rushdie has been transferred to a hospital via a helicopter. His status remains unknown.

New York State Police confirm a male suspect has been arrested after stabbing Rushdie in the neck.

Reminder:
In February 2019, the office of #Iran's dictator Ali Khamenei reiterated the fatwa calling for Rushdie's assassination, repeating the terms "solid & irrevocable" that Khamenei used in 1990.

Another reminder:
Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

#UPDATE
New York State Police Press Release on the stabbing attack targeting Salman Rushdie.

Reuters is reporting Rushdie's condition as an "emergency".

Apologies:
The word "former" is a typo.

#BREAKING
More footage showing the chaotic moments after Salman Rushdie was stabbed in western New York state earlier today.

#UPDATE
#Iran's IRGC Telegram channel has just posted this video of Khomeini's "historic ruling" for the killing of Salman Rushdie.

"When the date and time comes, Trump & Bolton will see the fate as Salman Rushdie. Even if many years pass..." the IRGC Telegram post adds.

Screenshot of #Iran's Telegram channel post & translation:

"Imam Khomeini's historic ruling for Salman Rushdie"

"Fear and horror in the heart of New York"

"When the date and time comes, Trump and Bolton will see the fate as Salman Rushdie. Even if many years pass..."

#UPDATE
More footage from the stabbing of Salman Rushdie.

Voice of a woman is heard saying:
"Hopefully they can save him because the first knife was right in the artery."

First indication of possibly multiple blows to a vital area of the neck.

To this day, this webpage from 2017 remains on the website of the Office of #Iran's dictator Ali Khamenei confirming Khomeini's initial fatwa.

"The decree is as Imam Khomeini issued."

Massive sign in Tehran University, #Iran, quotes the regime's dictator Ali Khamenei calling for the assassination of Salman Rushdie.

The sign is still there from 2012.

#UPDATE
“This guy ran on to platform and started pounding on Mr. Rushdie... it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten,” one eyewitness said to AP. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
apnews.com/article/salman…

AP: " Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest."

@lookner: "Doctor who was at the attack says Salman Rushdie has multiple stab wounds."

Right on que: chief #Iran lobbyist Trita Parsi claims "Iran later backed off" from the fatwa to kill Rushdie.

He is lying.

An official website, large poster in Tehran University & the IRGC Telegram channel confirm, to this day, that Parsi is lying.

#Iran's official website are praising the attack:

The IRGC-affiliated Fars website and Quds Force-affiliated Tasnim news agency both describe Salman Rushdie as a "heretic writer."

#BREAKING
"An AP reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution & begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor & the man was arrested."
apnews.com/article/salman…

Another Telegram channel affiliated to #Iran's IRGC is celebrating the attack on Salman Rushdie by posting an image of Khomeini's fatwa calling for his assassination.

#Iran opposition coalition NCRI President Maryam Rajavi on the attack on Salman Rushdie.

#BREAKING
Salman Rushdie is undergoing surgery at the UPMC Hamot Surgery Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, according to his agent Andrew Wylie and local media.

Seyem Mohammad Marandi is an advisor to #Iran's nuclear negotiating team.

Other Iranian hardliners are also celebrating the attack on #SalmanRushdie while posting photos of Trump and Pompeo. One tweet says "when you can attack Rushdie in New York, you can also kill Trump."

#Iran's IRGC-affiliated "Vatan-e-Emrooz" daily also describes #SalmanRushdie as a "heretic writer" and publishes in large font:

"KNIFE IN THE NECK OF SALMAN RUSHDIE"

#UPDATE
#SalmanRushdie is a naturalized U.S. citizen.