Hassan Sanei, Advocate for Salman Rushdie's Death Prize, Passes Away

Hassan Sanei, head of the 15 Khordad Foundation and an advocate for the three million dollar bounty on the British author Salman Rushdie, passed away at the age of 89. Iranian media cited 'old age and illness' as the cause of death for this member of the Expediency Discernment Council. Sanei led the 15 Khordad Foundation for 37 years, from 1983 to 2020. The 15 Khordad Foundation is a subsidiary of the 'Imam's Executive Headquarters' and is considered one of the tax-exempt institutions in Iran. According to the website of this governmental entity, 'its initial capital is derived from religious dues' and in 1985, at the request of Hassan Sanei and with the approval of Ruhollah Khomeini, it began to utilize confiscated assets, including urban land. Following Khomeini's fatwa calling for the murder of Salman Rushdie, the author of 'The Satanic Verses', the 15 Khordad Foundation was tasked with determining the bounty for carrying out this fatwa. In 2012, in a show of support for the fatwa, this Shia cleric increased the bounty by $500,000, raising it to $3.3 million. The 15 Khordad Foundation is sanctioned by the United States and Canada. Following an assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie, the British-American author of Indian descent, last year, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the 15 Khordad Foundation. Salman Rushdie was attacked last year during a speech at a literary festival in the U.S. by Hadi Matar, an Iranian regime supporter. Despite surviving the attack, the prominent author lost the sight in one eye and suffered nerve damage in one hand. In addition to the U.S., Canada also sanctioned the 15 Khordad Foundation, labeling it as an executor of the Iranian regime's 'domestic policies' and 'regional threats' against 'international peace and security' and responsible for the regime's wealth accumulation. The U.S. sanctioned the '15 Khordad Foundation' for offering a bounty for the killing of Salman Rushdie. The U.S. is sanctioning Iranian entities that promote the assassination of Salman Rushdie. Antony Blinken: The praise for the attack on Rushdie by Iranian-affiliated media is disgusting. Canada added Yaminpour, Qomi, and three Iranian regime entities to the sanctions list.