Iran on Wednesday postponed the execution of a 26-year-old protester who was sentenced to death just days after his arrest, according to human rights groups and family members.
The apparent decision by the Iranian government to hold off came amid a growing death toll from violent clashes on the streets of the country. Protests against the regime have been met with increasingly deadly force by the authorities.
Earlier on Wednesday, the country’s chief justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, called for speedy trials and executions of “rioters” — a term officials have used to refer to the protesters — according to a video shared by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
“Those elements who beheaded people in the streets or burned people alive must be tried and punished as quickly as possible,” he said. “If we don’t do it fast, it won’t have the same impact.”
But according to human rights groups and family members, the execution of the first protester scheduled to be put to death, Erfan Soltani, has been postponed.
The news out of Iran appeared to placate President Trump, who had threatened “strong action” if Iran killed protesters.
“We have been informed by very important sources on the other side: The killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” he told reporters at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Soltani’s parents received the news when they went to Ghezel Hesar prison in Alborz Province, according to a distant relative of the family, Sumayyeh, who insisted on being identified only by her first name for fear of reprisal.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, based in Norway, also said in a post on social media that it had learned from relatives of Mr. Soltani that the execution was postponed.
Mr. Trump did not mention Mr. Soltani by name and suggested that multiple executions had been scheduled and stayed.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, also denied that Iran intended to execute protesters, calling the claim part of a misinformation campaign by outside elements designed to provoke Mr. Trump into engagement. Speaking on the “Special Report With Bret Baier” on Fox News, he said he had not heard of plans for hangings, adding, “Hanging is out of the question.”
Mr. Soltani was arrested on Jan. 8 at his home west of the capital, Tehran, and has been denied access to a lawyer or other means to mount a defense, rights advocates said.
In a statement, the Hengaw group said his family had been kept unaware of the judicial proceedings and had been allowed only a brief, final visit before the scheduled execution on Wednesday. The family learned just four days after his detention that his execution had been scheduled.
On Tuesday, the family said Mr. Soltani had never engaged in violence and had been merely seeking basic freedoms for Iranians.
Since late last month, Iran has been rocked by the largest protests in years against its authoritarian rulers.
Mr. Trump has pledged support for the protesters and threatened strikes on Iran if its forces kill demonstrators. Late on Tuesday, as reports spread of an imminent execution of an Iranian protester, Mr. Trump warned of consequences.
“We will take very strong action if they do such a thing,” he said in an interview with “CBS Evening News.”
“When they start killing thousands of people, and now you are telling me about hanging, we will see how that works for them,” he said. “It’s not going to work out good.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would be watching “the process” when asked about possible military action in Iran.
The latest moves have heightened fears of another U.S. strike on Iran in a region already on tenterhooks after multiple wars in the past two years. Late on Wednesday, Iran restricted its airspace to planes that had received permission for international flights, according to aviation trackers.
Senior Iranian officials have responded to Mr. Trump’s statements with threats and vitriol.
“The President of the United States, who repeatedly speaks about the unsuccessful attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, would do better to also mention the Iranian missiles that crushed the U.S. Al Udeid base,” Ali Shamkhani, a senior Iranian official and an adviser to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday in a post on X.
“This would certainly help create a more realistic understanding of Iran’s will and capability to respond to any aggression.”
The protest movement was initially fueled by anger over the economy, which has been battered by years of corruption, government mismanagement and crippling Western sanctions. It quickly evolved into a broader antigovernment uprising against the clerical establishment that has ruled since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
More than 2,500 people have been killed, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, or HRANA, an organization based in Washington. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights said that more than 3,400 had been killed and thousands of others injured.
Even government officials have acknowledged that as many as 3,000 people have died. But they have focused on the security forces killed.
The flow of information about the protests has been severely restricted by an internet blackout that lasted nearly a week, most likely obscuring the true scale and toll of the unrest. Protests usually pick up in the late afternoons and evening, and it was still unclear on Wednesday where the latest protests were taking place and how large they were.
After the protests began last month, Iranian officials initially struck a conciliatory tone, saying they were open to dialogue with demonstrators. But as the protests spread and people began to call for the downfall of the regime, they hardened their stance.
Iran has a history of executing protesters, including during demonstrations in 2022. The practice has drawn condemnation from the public and human rights organizations.
According to the HRANA, the rights group, close to 100 forced confessions have been broadcast on state television since the protests began. The footage, often accompanied by dramatic music, shows detainees with their faces blurred, interspersed with clips purporting to show protesters attacking security forces.
Leily Nikounazar and Shawn McCreesh contributed reporting.
Abdi Latif Dahir is a Middle East correspondent for The Times, covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.
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