Pakistan, July 31 -- A federal jury on Wednesday convicted novelist Salman Rushdie's assailant of "engaging in an act of terrorism" for the bloody August 2022 attack at a New York cultural center.

Hadi Matar, a 28-year-old Lebanese American, "chose to align his values with the terroristic values of the leaders of Iran," said US Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, adding the defendant spent months planning the stabbing that nearly killed Rushdie and left him blind in one eye.

Matar was also convicted of supporting the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, after investigators found materials from the organization at his home.

Federal prosecutors said Matar followed a fatwa calling for Rushdie's execution, first issued in 1989 by the late Iranian...