Rushdie attack suspect says he admires Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini

FILE PHOTO: Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, who pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault of acclaimed author Salman Rushdie, appears in booking photographs at Chautauqua County Jail in Mayville, New York, U.S. August 12, 2022. Chautauqua County Jail/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) -The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie said he respected Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini but would not say if he was inspired by a fatwa issued by the former Iranian leader, according to a New York Post interview published on Wednesday.

Hadi Matar also told the Post he had only "read a couple pages" of Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" and that a tweet in the winter announcing the author's visit to the Chautauqua Institution gave him the idea of going there.