Salman Rushdie 'articulate' after stabbing attack, responding to investigators: Report

British author Salman Rushdie, who was recently stabbed multiple times during an event in New York state, is awake. The award-winning author is "articulate" in his conversations with investigators, CNN reported on Tuesday (August 16) citing a law enforcement official who has direct knowledge of the investigation.

Rushdie is currentlyrecovering in the hospital after he was stabbed last Friday on a stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state.

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The attacker rushed to the stage and stabbed the 75-year-old. The acclaimed author received life-threatening injuries and underwent emergency surgery.

According to the law enforcement official, the writer was conscious Monday and he was able to respond to investigators during the probe.

However, there's no mention of what Rushdie told the investigators regarding the attack that shocked the world.

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Because of his infamous novel "The Satanic Verses", Rushdie spent years hiding under death threats from Iran. The novel was banned in many countries with large Muslim populations.

The book was published in 1988 and ayear later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then supreme leader of Iran, pronounced a fatwa,. He called upon Muslims to kill the novelist and anyone involved in its publication for blasphemy.

Even a bounty worth millions of dollars were raised to murder the novelist by some unknown Iranian organisations, some affiliated with the government.

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Iran denies link

In Iran's first official reaction, the foreign ministry in Tehran denies involvement and said that no one has the right to level accusations against Iran.

Foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on Monday that Rushdie himself is to blame after denigrating the world's Muslims.

Kanani said that "we categorically deny" any link with the attack and "no one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran."

At his weekly press conference in Tehran, he said, "In this attack, we do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame and even condemnation."

"By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people," he added.

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