The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said this Wednesday afternoon (14) that the Iranian regime has no plans to execute people who participate in the protests that have taken place in the country in recent weeks.
“We have been informed that the deaths in Iran are stopping and that there are no plans for executions,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, according to information from broadcaster CNN. “The killings have stopped. The executions have stopped.”
“There are no plans for executions or any execution [específica]” Trump added. “I received this information from a reliable source. Let’s try to find out more. I’m sure if that happens I’ll be very upset.”
Yesterday, human rights groups, such as the Norwegian Iran Human Rights and Hengaw, cited sources who stated that Erfan Soltani, 26, accused by the Iranian dictatorship of “waging war against God” due to his participation in the protests, would be executed this Wednesday, six days after being arrested. However, the Hengaw and family members of Soltani said today that the execution has been postponed.
In an interview with Fox News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that there will be “no hangings today or tomorrow”.
Trump had previously stated that he could take “very strong” actions against Iran if the regime executed protesters.
According to international NGOs, more than 2,400 people have already been killed by Iranian security authorities and more than 18,000 have been arrested in the repression of protests that began in late December due to the economic crisis in the Persian country, but whose demands now include the fall of the Islamic regime.
This Wednesday, when asked if the US still plans an operation in Iran, Trump said his government will “watch and see what the process will be.”
“But we have received a very, very good statement from people who are aware of what is happening,” he said. “They said there will be no executions. Everyone is saying that a lot of executions would take place today. We have just been told that there will be no executions, I hope that is true, that is very important.”
