A diplomatic row is widening over Britain’s decision to knight the writer Salman Rushdie. On Tuesday, Iran told the British Embassy the move was a provocative act. In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini sentenced Rushdie to death because of Rushdie’s depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in his book The Sanatic Verses. Pakistan’s National Parliament has passed a resolution demanding Britain retract the award. This is Pakistan’s minister for religious affairs, Ijaz-ul-Haq.

Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Ijaz-ul-Haq: “People like Salman Rushdie who do not carry any weight anywhere in the world, if we start encouraging people like this I am sorry the gulf between the Western countries and the Muslim Ummah is going to widen. And it has hurt the feelings of every Muslim who is alive, let me tell you this.”