Iran says no death sentence issued for protester amid US threats

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, 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.

After Iran's foreign minister said Iran had "no plan" to hang people, Iranian state media on Thursday reported that a 26-year-old man arrested during protests in the city of Karaj would not be given the death sentence.

Earlier this week, rights organisation Hengaw reported that 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, was due to be executed on Wednesday.

Iranian state media said that while Soltani was being charged with colluding against "internal security and propaganda activities against the regime", the death penalty does not apply to such charges - if they are confirmed by a court.

Hengaw, citing his relatives, said a previously communicated order for his execution had been postponed.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene on behalf of protesters in Iran, where the clerical establishment has cracked down hard on nationwide unrest since December 28.

People inside the country, reached by Reuters on Wednesday and Thursday, said the protests appear to have abated since Monday. Information flows have been hampered by an internet blackout for a week.

Tensions had escalated on Wednesday, with Iran saying it had warned neighbours it would hit American bases in the region in the event of U.S. strikes, and a U.S. official saying the United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the region.

Trump, speaking at the White House, 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."

Qatar said on Wednesday 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 Israel.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan held a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday to discuss regional developments and ways to support security and stability in the region, Saudi state media reported.

The U.S.-based HRANA rights group says it has so far verified the deaths of 2,435 protesters and 153 government-affiliated individuals in the unrest that started with protests over soaring prices before turning into one of the biggest challenges to the clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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 Araghchi 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.

Iran and its Western foes have both described the unrest as the most violent since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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.

The Group of Seven countries condemned what they described as the Iranian authorities' brutal repression of the Iranian people, saying they were prepared to impose additional restrictive measures on Iran if it continues to crack down.

In the 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.

Source: Reuters, Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland, January 15, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde