NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran’s leadership had called off the execution of hundreds of protesters arrested during a recent crackdown and thanked Tehran for the move.In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Iranian authorities had canceled planned executions that were scheduled to take place a day earlier. “I have great respect for the fact that all planned executions that were supposed to take place yesterday (over 800 of them) were canceled by the Iranian leadership. Thank you!” he wrote.
Trump’s comments came amid international concerns over Iran’s handling of the protests and its treatment of demonstrators arrested during the crackdown. Tehran had reportedly planned mass executions of protesters before reversing the decision.According to activists, the death toll from the protests continues to rise. However, President Trump indicated that the likelihood of US military action is decreasing, citing Iran’s decision to halt planned executions.Trump’s optimistic assessment contrasted with the more complex realities on the ground in Iran, but appeared to mark a departure from his previous comments that had suggested a U.S. attack could be imminent.Trump previously posted about Iran and the protesters, saying, “Help is on the way.” When asked Friday whether that promise still stands, he replied: “Well, we’ll see.”Asked whether anyone had persuaded him to back away from apparent military threats, Trump said: “Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself.”He added: “There were more than 800 executions scheduled yesterday. They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the executions. That had a big impact.”
