President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the Iranian government appeared to have stopped killing protesters, though he did not say what that might mean for the possibility of US military action against the country.
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping — it’s stopped — it’s stopping,” he told reporters at the White House. “And there’s no plan for executions, or an execution, or execution — so I’ve been told that on good authority.”
Trump said that he had received the information from “very important sources on the other side” and that he would “find out” later if it was accurate. He did not disclose who had provided the account.
After Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had “no plan” to hang people, Iranian state media on Thursday reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, arrested during protests in the city of Karaj would not be given the death sentence.
Since January 2, Trump has said he will attack Iran if the government harms protesters. Iranian security forces have cracked down on protesters for days, including by using lethal gunfire, killing hundreds or thousands of civilians, according to human rights groups and Iranian officials.
When asked on Wednesday whether military action was now off the table, Trump said, “We’re going to watch and see what the process is, but we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.” He did not say what the statement said or who the people were.
US sanctions
The US is imposing a new round of sanctions against Iranian officials accused of repressing nationwide protests that challenge Iran’s theocratic government.
Included in Thursday’s sanctions is the secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security, whom the treasury department accuses of being one of the first officials to call for violence against Iranian protesters.
UN meeting
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss Iran’s deadly protests at the request of the US, even as Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.
G7 warning
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests...”.
New York Times News Service, Reuters and AP