WASHINGTON/DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been told that killings in Iran’s crackdown on protests were easing and that he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions, adopting a wait‑and‑see posture after earlier threatening intervention.
Iranian state media on Thursday reported that a 26-year-old man arrested during the protests in the city of Karaj would not be given the death sentence, after a rights group reported earlier this week that he was due to be executed on Wednesday.
Trump’s comments at the White House on Wednesday led oil prices to retreat from multi-month highs and gold eased from a record peak on Thursday.
Trump’s comments came after fears grew in the Middle East that Washington could launch strikes, following his repeated threats to intervene on behalf of Iranian protesters. Trump did not rule out possible U.S. military action, however.
In separate comments, Trump told Reuters in an exclusive interview that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over.
Trump said it is possible the government in Tehran could fall due to the protests, but that in truth “any regime can fail.”
“Whether or not it falls or not, it’s going to be an interesting period of time,” he said.
Tensions escalated on Wednesday, as Iran said it had warned neighbours it would hit American bases in the region in the event of U.S. strikes, and a U.S. official said the United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the region.
On Wednesday, several Western officials said U.S. military intervention could be imminent.
Qatar said drawdowns from its Al Udeid air base, the biggest U.S. base in the Middle East, were “being undertaken in response to the current regional tensions”.
Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid last year in response to U.S. airstrikes on its nuclear installations during the 12-day war between Tehran and its arch-foe Israel.
PROTESTS APPEAR TO HAVE ABATED
The clerical establishment has cracked down hard on one of the biggest challenges to its rule since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. More than 2,500 people have been reported killed in the unrest that spiralled out of protests over soaring prices.
People that Reuters have reached inside the country said the protests appear to have abated since Monday. Information flows have been hampered by an internet blackout for a week.
The death toll has dwarfed that of previous bouts of unrest crushed by the Iranian authorities, such as the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests and unrest sparked by a disputed election in 2009.
Trump, speaking at the White House, said he has been told that killings in the crackdown were subsiding. Asked who told him that the killings had stopped, Trump described them as “very important sources on the other side.”
The president did not rule out potential U.S. military action, saying “we are going to watch what the process is” before noting that his administration had received a “very good statement” from Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday “there is no plan” by Iran to hang people, when asked about the protests. “There is no plan for hanging at all,” he told Fox News in an interview on the “Special Report with Bret Baier” show. “Hanging is out of the question,” he said.
DEATH PENALTY DOESN’T APPLY IN CASE OF 26-YEAR-OLD
Earlier this week, rights organisation Hengaw reported that 26-year-old Essam Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, was due to be executed on Wednesday.
However, on Thursday Iranian state media said that while Soltani was being charged with “colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime”, the death penalty does not apply to such charges if they are confirmed by a court.
Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that installed Iran’s system of Shi’ite clerical rule.
Iranian authorities said the demonstrations turned from legitimate protest at economic grievances into unrest fomented by its foreign enemies, accusing people it described as terrorists of attacking the security forces and public property.
In a fragmented Iranian opposition, Pahlavi has emerged as a prominent voice during the unrest. The U.S.-based Pahlavi, 65, has lived outside Iran since before his father, the last Shah of Iran, was toppled.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump told Reuters. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.
“I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.”
(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; ; editing by Frances Kerry, Alexandra Hudson, Gareth Jones, Diane Craft and Michael Perry)
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