FILE - Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Nov. 15, 2017, in New York. An Iranian government official denied on Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, that Tehran was involved in the assault on author Rushdie, in remarks that were the country's first public comments on the attack. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)