The White House said on Thursday (15) that the Iranian regime had canceled 800 executions of protesters after United States President Donald Trump promised military action if such measures were taken by the Islamic dictatorship.
“The president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killings continue, there will be consequences. The president [então] received a message that the killings and executions will cease,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a press conference.
“The president learned today that 800 executions that were scheduled and should have taken place yesterday have been suspended,” added the spokeswoman, according to information from The Times of Israel.
Trump had previously stated that he could take “very strong” actions against Iran if the regime executed protesters. This Thursday, Leavitt said the US has not yet ruled out an attack on Iran.
“The president and his team are closely monitoring the situation and all options remain open,” the spokeswoman said. The Iranian regime has not yet commented on Leavitt’s comments.
On Tuesday (13), 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 on Wednesday (14), six days after being arrested. However, the Hengaw and family members of Soltani said yesterday that the execution has been postponed.
Today, the Mizan news agency, linked to the Iranian judiciary, claimed that the protester had not been sentenced to the death penalty.
In an interview with Fox News, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “there is no plan to hang” protesters, after Trump announced yesterday that the executions had been suspended.
According to international NGOs, more than 2,600 people have already been killed by Iranian security authorities and thousands more 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.
