The World - News from March 3, 1989

Britain said it has received two Iranian requests for a meeting in Geneva to resolve the furor over author Salman Rushdie and his novel “The Satanic Verses” but that it will reject any such request until Tehran renounces violence over the book. Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe said there could be no justification for Iran’s death threats against the author, even though the book is “deeply offensive” to Muslims. Iran denied proposing a meeting, saying that the overtures for conciliation came from Britain and the Rushdie remains subject to “divine offensive.” Howe plans to meet in Vienna on Monday with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who has indicated a willingness to mediate the dispute.