<p class="speakable">A man convicted of stabbing <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/books" rel="noopener" target="_blank">award-winning British author</a> Salman Rushdie in 2022 was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison, the maximum possible term.</p><p class="speakable">Hadi Matar, 27, was found guilty in February of <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/us/crime/homicide" rel="noopener" target="_blank">attempted murder and assault</a> in connection to the knife attack that left Rushdie blind in one eye. </p><p>Rusdie, 77, was stabbed on stage at the Chautauqua Institution before a lecture and airlifted to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania — where he remained for nearly three weeks.</p><p>The author, whose 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" evoked worldwide protests and<a href="https://foxnews.com/us/pakistani-man-alleged-iran-ties-pleads-not-guilty-alleged-murder-hire-plot-assassinate-us-politicians" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khamenei</a> to call for his death, suffered wounds to his liver, arm and eye.</p><p>Matar was also sentenced to seven years, to be served concurrently, for the stabbing of another man who was on stage with Rushdie, according to The Associated Press.</p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/salman-rushdie-first-interview-nearly-fatal-knife-attack-i-feel-presence-death" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong>SALMAN RUSHDIE IN 1ST INTERVIEW ABOUT NEARLY-FATAL KNIFE ATTACK: 'I FEEL MORE THE PRESENCE OF DEATH'</strong></a></p><p>Before sentencing,<strong> </strong>Matar told the court Rushdie "wants to disrespect other people," according to the AP.</p><p>"He wants to be a bully, he wants to bully other people," Matar said. "I don’t agree with that."</p><p>The New Jersey native is still facing federal <a href="https://foxnews.com/category/world/terrorism" rel="noopener" target="_blank">terrorism charges</a>, to which he pleaded not guilty.</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.com/us/iranian-american-journalist-testifies-against-men-accused-murder-for-hire-plot" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>IRANIAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST TESTIFIES AGAINST MEN ACCUSED OF MURDER-FOR-HIRE PLOT</u></strong></a></p><p>Though the Iranian state committed to not encouraging anyone to take <a href="https://foxnews.com/world/police-uk-pm-accused-double-standards-suspect-indicted-killing-3-girls-faces-terror-related-charge" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Rushdie’s life</a>, there was a $4 million bounty on his head, Reuters reported.</p><p>Rushdie described the 27-second attack as something that dragged him back in time.</p><p>"I saw the man in black running towards me, down the right-hand side of the seating area: Black clothes, black face mask – he was coming in hard and low, a squat missile," Rushdie told "60 Minutes" host Anderson Cooper in April 2024. "I confess, I had sometimes imagined my assassin rising up in some public forum or other and coming for me in this way."</p><p><a href="https://foxnews.com/world/iran-official-exposes-tehrans-global-assassination-program-us-trial-alleged-regime-hitmen-continues" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>IRAN OFFICIAL EXPOSES TEHRAN'S GLOBAL ASSASSINATION PROGRAM AS US TRIAL OF ALLEGED REGIME HITMEN CONTINUES</u></strong></a></p><p>"My first thought when I saw this murderous shape rushing towards me was: So, it’s you. Here you are," Rushdie said. "It felt like something coming out of the distant past and trying to drag me back in time … back into that distant past in order to kill me." </p><p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/apps-products" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><strong><u>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP</u></strong></a></p><p><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</i></p>