Iran has stayed executions of protesters, President Donald Trump said quoting “very important sources on the other side,” but tensions remained high across the Middle East as the possibility of US military action against Tehran remains.
“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place — there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place — and we’re going to find out,” Trump reporters at the White House on January 14.
“We’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true.”
Iranian authorities have launched one of the most brutal crackdowns ever after hoards of people across the country took to the streets in antigovernment protests seen as one of the biggest challenges to clerical rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The independent US-based rights monitor HRANA said that according to its confirmed and verified data on January 13 the death toll in the protests had risen to 2,403 protesters, with more than 18,000 others detained. But it and many other sources say the real number of those killed is likely several times higher.
In light of the reports of the violent crackdown, Trump has warned several times that the United States may intervene to halt the killings while urging Iranians to continue their protests.
Information about the situation on the ground has been difficult to obtain and verify as authorities cut almost all access to the Internet soon after the demonstrations, initially sparked by a dismal economy and a currency in freefall, started in late December.
“Metrics show Iran remains offline as the country wakes to another day of digital darkness,” Internet watchdog NetBlocks said in a post on January 14.
“With the Internet blackout now past its 132nd hour, early reports indicate thousands of casualties. The true extent of the killings is masked by the absence of connectivity,” it added.
Rights groups had reported that one detained protester, 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, would be executed on January 14, six days after his arrest on charges of “waging war against God” over his role in the protests.
Trump said late on January 13 in an interview with CBS News that if the authorities carried out the execution — the first of a participant of the current wave of protests — “you’re going to see some things.”
The Norway-based Hengaw rights group, citing relatives of Soltani, said late on January 14 that the execution had not taken place, though “serious and ongoing concerns” remain.
“In a conversation with Erfan Soltani’s relatives, Hengaw has learned that his death sentence, which was previously announced to his family to be carried out on Wednesday (January 14), has not been carried out and has been postponed,” it said.
“Due to the ongoing Internet outage and severe communication restrictions, it is not possible to provide further information on this matter.”
Trump has not elaborated on what actions the United States may take against Iran and when, but some personnel have been advised by Washington to leave the main US air base in the region after Tehran warned neighboring countries hosting US troops that it would retaliate against American bases if Washington carries out its threats.
Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said on January 14 that Iran issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), announcing the closure of its airspace to all flights except international flights to and from the country that had been granted permission.
The NOTAM was valid for “a little more than 2 hours,” it said.
Iran’s Islamic leadership has weathered previous protests, but the latest unrest comes as Tehran is still recovering from last year’s war with Israel — when the United States joined in a set of air strikes aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities — and its regional position is weakened by blows to regional allies.
Trump is thought to be mulling options including limited military strikes, a more concerted campaign of strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), or nonmilitary moves such as a full economic blockade or cyberattacks to disrupt the communication and decision-making systems of Iranian security agencies.
A journalist inside Iran who managed to send a report to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda on January 13 said a taxi driver they talked to spoke of security forces attacking medical centers, kidnapping wounded protesters, and killing those who could not be transported.
His claims could not be independently verified by RFE/RL, but they do match up with human rights sources and other reports from inside the country about the severity of the crackdown on the protests and the “mass killing” of protesters.
