Author Salman Rushdie attacked on stage in New York

(Patria) - Salman Rushdie, an author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked on Friday while he was about to give a lecture in western New York.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man rush onto the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin striking Rushdie as he was being introduced. The author was taken away while the attacker was subdued. Rushdie suffered a stab wound to the neck and was transported to a hospital.

Rushdie gained worldwide fame in the early 80s thanks to his brilliant novels, "Midnight's Children" and "Shame," but he gained wider public interest after the novel "The Satanic Verses," which has been banned in Iran since 1988 because many Muslims consider it blasphemous. A year later, the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death.

A reward of over $3 million was also offered for anyone who killed Rushdie.

The Iranian government has long distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has remained.

That year, Rushdie published his memoirs, "Joseph Anton," about the fatwa.