White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a daily press briefing on Thursday that “the President understands 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted,” though she did not detail the source for the figure.
She said Trump had made it clear to Iran that “if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” adding that “all options remain on the table.”
Iran’s judiciary said Thursday that a man feared to be facing the first execution would not face the death penalty.
Erfan Soltani, 26, was expected to be the first protester to face execution, according to the State Department and human rights groups.
Iran’s judiciary said that he had not been sentenced to capital punishment. Soltani’s charge of “colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime” did not carry the death penalty but he remained behind bars, state media reported.
The Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said his execution had been “postponed,” citing information from Soltani’s relatives. Amnesty International said the same, citing a source.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also appeared to step back from official calls for rapid justice by telling Fox News that there would not be “any hanging today or tomorrow or whatever.” He said, “I’m confident about that. There is no plan for hanging at all.”
But Iran’s Defense Minister, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, told state media Thursday that Iran would use all its capabilities to “suppress armed savage terrorists.”
Earlier in the day, Trump said in the Oval Office, “It’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions.”
Discussing the response from security forces, Trump said that “people were shooting at them with guns, and they were shooting back.” He added: “And you know, it’s one of those things.”
Trump is ready to follow through on his repeated promises to protesters that the U.S. would intervene militarily to support them, but has told his advisers he would want any action to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the regime, according to a U.S. official, two people familiar with the discussions and a person close to the White House.
They have so far not been able to give him that guarantee, the sources said.
