On Friday, Trump expressed gratitude to Iran’s leadership for refraining from executing what he said would be hundreds of political prisoners.
Trump and his team warned the Iranian government that continued killings would have “serious consequences,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a news conference Thursday. She said the president was leaving “all options on the table” and added that the situation was being closely monitored.
“I greatly respect the fact that all the planned hangings that were supposed to take place yesterday (over 800 of them) have been canceled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” Trump said on Truth Social.
The tone appeared to back away from Trump’s recent repeated suggestions that the US could attack Iran militarily if its government carried out mass killings amid widespread protests that have gripped the country, but have since calmed down.
Over the past two days, several US allies in the Middle East have urged the Trump administration to refrain from military action, warning that it could destabilize the already volatile region and disrupt the global economy.
Iran protests
The protests, which began on December 28 over economic woes, quickly escalated into large-scale demonstrations demanding an end to clerical rule, culminating in violent violence late last week. Opposition groups and an Iranian official said more than 2,000 people had been killed, marking the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Several Tehran residents contacted by Reuters said the capital had been relatively calm for the past four days. Although drones were seen flying over the city, no significant protests were observed on Thursday or Friday. A resident from a northern city along the Caspian Sea also said the streets there seemed quiet. The residents requested anonymity for security reasons.
Video circulating online, which Reuters confirmed was filmed at a forensic medical center in Tehran, showed dozens of bodies on the floor and on stretchers, most in bags, while some were left exposed. He could not independently verify when the video was taken.
State-run Press TV quoted Iran’s police chief as saying calm had been restored across the country.
According to the US-based human rights group HRANA, the death toll has risen only slightly since Wednesday to 2,677 people, including 2,478 protesters and 163 people identified as government affiliates.
