According to Iranian official media, a foundation in Iran has promised free farmland to the man suspected of carrying out a terrible knife attack on novelist Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie, 75, was assaulted onstage at a literary event in New York in August, losing an eye and the use of one of his hands.

Hadi Matar has filed a not guilty plea for assault and attempted second-degree murder. “We heartily appreciate the young American who made Muslims happy by blinding one of Rushdie’s eyes and paralyzing one of his hands,” Mohammad Esmail Zarei, secretary of the Foundation to Implement Imam Khomeini’s Fatwas, said. “In honor of Rushdie’s selfless act, 1,000 square meters of agricultural land will be given to the person or any of his legal agents. Rushdie is currently nothing more than a living dead,” Zarei stated. Rushdie called Matar an “idiot” in his first interview since the incident earlier this month.