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A. It didn't help, but it wasn't the critical factor. There were other things that went wrong.
Q. Let's turn to the political side. The Western hostages have been released. Does that help or hurt your cause?
A. It's a kind of knife edge, as I always thought it would be. Because to an extent I've been a hostage to the hostage situation. Whenever people have tried to make my case very public, to debate it very noisily, it has been suggested that to do so would be to prolong the hostages' plight. Now, since the hostages are out, I am able to speak more freely.
Q. What's the other side of the coin?
| A. The thing I've worried about is that there would be the enormous and quite understandable desire among the public to say, "Thank God, it's all over." Somebody then piping up with "Excuse me, there's one more problem" might generate irritation. "Oh, God, we don't want to deal with that because it's finished, it's over, hurrah, let's have Christmas."
What I'm trying to say is, "It isn't quite the end."
Q. How did you feel when Britain resumed diplomatic relations with Iran last year and your case remained unresolved?
A. I had very mixed feelings. I would certainly have wished for a clear, overt public statement about the Rushdie case. No such statement was made, apart from a vague statement about how Iran had agreed not to interfere in the internal affairs of Britain. Unfortunately, a few months later there were very vociferous restatements of the threat from Iran, and the bounty money on my head was doubled.
Q. To $3 million?
A. Well, $2 million -- a large amount. And then I heard about my Italian translator being knifed. I heard about my Japanese translator being murdered.
Q. What's your agenda during your U.S. visit?
A. People need to be reminded constantly that this is not a parochial issue. It's not about one writer of Third World origin in trouble with a Third World power. The publishing of a book is a worldwide event. The attempt to suppress a book is a worldwide event. This is not just about me.
Q. Your problem has to be solved at the political level?
A. Yes.
Q. But that might involve trade relations, arms deals, whatever? You expect to be part of some political equation?
A. It's not that I expect to become a part of it, but I am, whether I like it or not. The Iranian government is in breach of international law and at the same time is seeking to get closer to the West. As a citizen of Britain and of Europe, I can at least expect most countries and their allies to say to Iran, "If you wish to put your house in order, show us . . ."
Q. And Rushdie fits in there?
A. Yes. Both sides have a genuine interest in getting closer to the other. The West sees Iran as an important force in the gulf. Iran wishes to reconstruct its economy and play a fuller part in the community of nations -- and that's legitimate. My part is a tiny part in that equation -- it's big for me, but it's a tiny part.
Q. Do you ever feel like giving up?