--- description: Iranian hardliners tend to make symbolic gestures around the anniversary of Rushdie's fatwa title: Iranian Media Raise Bounty For Killing Salman Rushdie image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt270ece686d582a51/69887e9f0a4a225a509c87ed/salman-rushdie-fatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iranian Hardliners Raise Bounty on Salman Rushdie to Almost $4 Million by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2016 1:59 PM CUT  Salman Rushdie attends the premiere of 'Midnight's Children' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on Oct. 14, 2012 in London, England. Salman Rushdie attends the premiere of 'Midnight's Children' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on Oct. 14, 2012 in London, England.Ben Pruchnie—Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 23, 2016 1:59 PM CUT A group of hard-line Iranian news organizations have [raised over half a million](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/world/middleeast/irans-hard-line-press-adds-to-bounty-on-salman-rushdie.html "undefined") dollars to add to a bounty calling for the killing of British novelist Salman Rushdie. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a religious edict known as a fatwa in 1989 calling for Rushdie’s death due to his book _The Satanic Verses_. Khomeini found the book to be blasphemous and insulting toward Muslims,[ reports the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/world/middleeast/irans-hard-line-press-adds-to-bounty-on-salman-rushdie.html "undefined"), and the edict has since forced the novelist into hiding, where he has been under the protection of bodyguards. Over three dozen state-run media outlets pooled $600,000, which will be added to the total bounty to make nearly $4 million, r[eports _Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-rushdie-idUSKCN0VV1TI "undefined"). Whether the bounty will be paid is unclear. Iranian hard-line organisations often make symbolic gestures to mark the anniversary of Rushdie’s fatwa on Feb. 14. The announcement highlights the political infighting between hardliners and reformists in Iran during the run-up to this week’s elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/world/middleeast/irans-hard-line-press-adds-to-bounty-on-salman-rushdie.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4233580/fatwa-salman-rushdie-iran/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4233580/fatwa-salman-rushdie-iran/"},"headline":"Iranian Hardliners Raise Bounty on Salman Rushdie to Almost $4 Million","datePublished":"2016-02-23T13:59:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:17:18.841Z","description":"The novelist has been living under the threat of a fatwa since 1989","url":"https://time.com/4233580/fatwa-salman-rushdie-iran/","keywords":["Iran"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt270ece686d582a51/69887e9f0a4a225a509c87ed/salman-rushdie-fatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt270ece686d582a51/69887e9f0a4a225a509c87ed/salman-rushdie-fatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Salman Rushdie attends the premiere of 'Midnight's Children' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on Oct. 14, 2012 in London, England.","caption":"Salman Rushdie attends the premiere of 'Midnight's Children' during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on Oct. 14, 2012 in London, England.","creditText":"Ben Pruchnie—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4233580/fatwa-salman-rushdie-iran/","name":"Iranian Hardliners Raise Bounty on Salman Rushdie to Almost $4 Million"}}]}] ```