NBC News reports:
“I am adding another $500,000 to the reward for killing Salman Rushdie, and anyone who carries out this sentence will receive the whole amount immediately,” said Hassan Sanei, the foundation’s head, in a statement carried by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).
The reward offered by the state-linked foundation now stands at $3.3 million, ISNA reported….
The [original 1989] fatwa resulted in the writer living in hiding for a decade. Although Rushdie was never physically harmed, his Japanese translator was stabbed to death in 1991 and his Italian translator was injured in a stabbing that same year….
In 1998, under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s government distanced itself from the Rushdie fatwa, but hardline groups regularly renew the call for Rushdie’s death, saying Khomeini’s decree is irrevocable and eternal.
Naturally, someone who will kill for $3.3 million would likely do the same for $2.8 million, so the extra money is likely meant as a reminder, not as an extra incentive.