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 authorities.
Earlier 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 Donald 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.
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 Soltani that the execution was postponed.
Trump did not mention 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 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."
Soltani was arrested 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.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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 authorities.
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Earlier 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 Donald 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.
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 Soltani that the execution was postponed.
Trump did not mention 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 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."
Soltani was arrested 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.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
