An Iranian foundation has praised the man who attacked novelist Salman Rushdie last year, leaving him severely injured, state TV reported on Tuesday through its Telegram channel.
It also said it would reward him with 1,000 square metres of agricultural land.
Rushdie lost an eye and the use of one hand after the assault allegedly carried out by Hadi Matar, a Shiite Muslim American from New Jersey, on the stage of a literary event held near Lake Erie in western New York State in August.
"We sincerely thank the brave action of the young American who made Muslims happy by blinding one of Rushdie's eyes and disabling one of his hands," said Mohammad Esmail Zarei, secretary of the Foundation to Implement Imam Khomeini's Fatwas.
"Rushdie is now no more than living dead and to honour this brave action, about 1,000 square metres of agricultural land will be donated to the person or any of his legal representatives."
The 24 year old accused of the attack has pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges.
It came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran's supreme leader, issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie a few months after The Satanic Verses was published.
Some Muslims regarded passages in the novel about the Prophet Mohammed as blasphemous.
Rushdie, 75, who was born in India to a Muslim Kashmiri family, has lived with a bounty on his head and spent nine years in hiding under British police protection.
While Iran's pro-reform government under president Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa in the late 1990s, the multimillion-dollar bounty hanging over Rushdie's head kept growing and the fatwa was never lifted.
Mr Khomeini's successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was suspended from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was "irrevocable."
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hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
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LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
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Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
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Name: HyperSpace
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