Diplomat: Iran Doesn’t Plan To Kill Rushdie

A top Iranian diplomat said Friday his country does not intend to kill Salman Rushdie despite an Islamic death order, the Danish Foreign Ministry said.

Iran’s ambassador to Denmark, Mohammad Mehdi Pourmohammadi, issued a statement saying, “The Iranian government had never, is not and will not in the future send anyone to kill Salman Rushdie.”

Pourmohammadi issued the statement after being summoned to the Foreign Ministry to explain a comment by Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Mahmoud Vaezi.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency had quoted Vaezi as saying that Rushdie must be killed. Denmark said that reneged on statements Vaezi made in Copenhagen this week.