Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage

Author Salman Rushdie suffered severe injuries in an attack that left him hospitalised, and possibly blind.

The 75-year old author whose writing led to death threats from Iran decades ago was rushed off stage by someone who jumped onto the platform where he delivered lectures on Friday night 

The news is not good," said Andrew Wylie earlier today during a phone call with reporters moments after his agent informed 

what happened - adding damage seemed extensive enough so far as well meaning it

Law enforcement officials have identified the attacker as Hadi Matar. The 24-year old man reportedly hails from New Jersey and is believed to be sympathetic towards Shia extremism

according an initial sweep of his social media accounts by law enforcers showed him posting images related with slain commander Qassem Solemani who served within IRGC's specialized forces

We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there’s still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds” that it wasn’t, she said