Media in Iran on Sunday speculated that a US plot may have been behind Friday's stabbing of novelist Salman Rushdie at a literary event in New York, AFP reported.
Two days after the writer was attacked on stage in upstate New York, coverage was muted in the Islamic Republic. But while most newspapers did not mention the attack, two ultra-conservative dailies that did saw a change in tone.
The ultra-conservative daily Javan suggested that the attack may have been a plot hatched by the Americans.
"Maybe a young Muslim, who was not even born when Salman Rushdie wrote his satanic book, wanted revenge on him," it said.
The Kayhan daily, which on Saturday hailed the attacker as "courageous and duty-conscious", went on to suggest that attacks on other figures could be possible in the future.
"The attack on Salman Rushdie highlighted the weakness of US intelligence and demonstrated that even strict security measures cannot prevent attacks," Kayhan wrote.
It "proves that exacting revenge on criminals on American soil is not difficult".
"Now (former US president Donald) Trump and (former secretary of state Mike) Pompeo will feel more threatened," the paper added.
Eyewitnesses said that Rushdie was stabbed 10 to 15 times during Friday’s attack. Rushdie fell to the floor immediately, as the attacker was restrained, they added.
Rushdie, who was taken to hospital by helicopter and treated for stab wounds to his liver, arm, and one eye, may lose the use of one of his eyes.
On Sunday, Rushdie’s son Zafar Rushdie wrote on Twitter that his father was in critical condition and had sustained “life changing” injuries, but had been taken off a ventilator and had been able to speak.
Rushdie since 1989 has been the target of an Iranian fatwa calling for his murder for allegedly blaspheming Islam and its prophet Mohammed in his book "The Satanic Verses."
In 2012, an Iranian foundation added another $500,000 to the reward for killing Rushdie, raising the total bounty for his death to $3.3 million.
Rushdie spent a decade in hiding after Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the 1989 fatwa against him for his book.
Although Iran's foreign ministry in 1998 assured Britain that Iran would do nothing to implement the fatwa, current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in January 2005 reaffirmed that Rushdie was considered an apostate whose murder was authorized under Islam.
In 2019, Twitter temporarily banned an account connected to Khamenei after it posted a message threatening Rushdie.