Iran’s judiciary head signalled on Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for suspects detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump.
The comments by Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei came as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. The security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,586, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The current death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump has repeatedly warned that the US may take military action over the killing of peaceful protesters, just months after it bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel against the Islamic Republic in June.
Iran was expected to execute a protester on Wednesday for the first time during the current wave of anti-government unrest, according to human rights groups and family members of the protester. Rights groups and relatives identified the protester as Erfan Soltani, 26, from an area west of Tehran.
Iran has threatened it could make a preemptive strike after alleging without offering evidence that Israel and the US orchestrated the protests. A US official said some personnel at a key US military base in Qatar have been advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening, a decision that came as a senior official in Iran brought up an earlier Iranian attack there.
A mass funeral was held on Wednesday for some 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations. Tens of thousands of mourners attended, holding Iranian flags and photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, stood stacked. Red and white roses and framed photographs of people who were killed covered them.
People elsewhere remained fearful in the streets. Plainclothes security forces still milled around some neighbourhoods, though anti-riot police and members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force appeared to have been sent back to their barracks.
“We are very frightened because of these sounds (of gunfire) and protests,” said a mother-of-two shopping for fruits and vegetables, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “We have heard many are killed and many are injured. Now peace has been restored but schools are closed and I’m scared to send my children to school again.”
Ahmadreza Tavakoli, 36, told The Associated Press he witnessed one demonstration in Tehran and was shocked by the use of firearms by authorities.
“People were out to express themselves and protest, but quickly it turned into a war zone,” Tavakoli said. “The people do not have guns. Only the security forces have guns.”
Mohseni-Ejei’s comments about rapid trials and executions were made in a video shared by Iranian state television online.
“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” he said. “If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.”
The comments stand as a direct challenge to Trump, who warned Iran about executions an interview with CBS aired on Tuesday.
“We will take very strong action,” Trump said. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”