WASHINGTON — President Trump asserted Wednesday that “the other side” has claimed Iran has stopped killing anti-government protesters — amid fevered speculation about a possible US military strike.
“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping. It’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Trump declined to say who offered those assurances, aside from “very important sources on the other side.”
“I’ve been told that a good authority — we will find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, we’ll all be very upset… but that’s just gotten to me, the information that the killing has stopped, that the executions have stopped, they’re not going to have an execution.”
Trump’s proclamation implies that there’s less pressure for American action to protect protesters — however, his airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program last June featured elaborate public deceptions that gave similar indications that an attack wasn’t imminent.
The president said he was told by “very important sources” in Iran that the Islamic Republic was backing off its clampdown on nationwide protests.
“We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said.
“There was supposed to be a lot of executions today, and that the executions won’t take place. And we’re going to find out. I mean, I’ll find out after this, you’ll find out. But we’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true.”
Trump added: “Who knows, right? Who knows? It’s a crazy world. You’ve seen that over the last few days [Iranian officials] said people were shooting at them with guns, and they were shooting back. It’s one of those things, but they told me that there’ll be no executions, and so I hope that’s true.”
The president declined to rule out military action, saying, “we are going to watch and see what the process is — but we were given a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on.”
It was not immediately clear how Tehran communicated with the Trump administration, but an Iranian official last weekend contacted special envoy Steve Witkoff, proposing diplomatic talks — opening a fleeting window in which a US-Iran summit was due to occur, before Trump axed the plan as the reported protest death toll soared past 2,000 this week.
Iranian authorities had planned to execute a 26-year-old protester, Erfan Soltani, on Wednesday for participating in a Jan. 8 rally, drawing an international outcry.
A source close to Soltani’s family told IranWire that a relative who works as an attorney attempted to represent him in rushed proceedings, but was told, “There is no file to review. We announced that anyone arrested in the protests would be executed.”
A cousin of Soltani told the Guardian later Wednesday that Iranian prison authorities said his execution has been postponed.
Here is the latest on the civil unrest in Iran:
Trump’s indication of a possible reprieve for the Iranian government comes despite signs that a strike is imminent — including a drawdown of US personnel in nearby Qatar, the closure of the UK embassy in Tehran and reported backchannel outreach to Iran-backed Hezbollah urging it not to strike Israel in the event of a strike on its sponsor.
Airspace over Iran was closed to most flights beginning at 5 p.m. ET Wednesday, according to FlightRadar24. All flights, except international flights to and from Iran with permission, were barred for at least two hours.
Iran has publicly ratcheted up its rhetoric against Trump this week. A state-run TV channel on Wednesday broadcast an apparent assassination attempt, showing a picture of Trump bloodied after surviving a 2024 shooting in Butler, Pa., with the words: “This time it will not miss the target.”
The White House has not responded to a Post request for comment on that image.
Iran has made threats to kill Trump in the past, including a 2022 video posted by the regime depicting an assassination attempt on the president at his Mar-a-Lago golf course prior to the 2024 election.
The video resurfaced following the arrest of would-be assassin Ryan Routh, who was arrested while trying to take aim at Trump on the same golf course.
The Justice Department also said that in 2024, the US thwarted an Iranian-led plot to kill Trump after arresting Farhad Shakeri, who was allegedly tasked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps to murder the president for the regime, according to court documents.
In July, Trump brushed off a senior Iranian official’s threat to kill him using a drone as he tanned — saying he hasn’t sunbathed in years.
“It’s been a long time. I don’t know, maybe I was around seven or so. I’m not too big into it,” the president said.
“I guess it’s a threat. I’m not sure it’s a threat, actually, but perhaps it is.”
Along with the anti-Trump signs, those attending the latest pro-government rallies in Iran were heard shouting, “Death to America!” as they vowed their support for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The protests have triggered a brutal crackdown on dissent, with more than 2,500 people killed since the demonstrations began, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, with thousands more arrested.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have ramped up over the protests, with Trump warning that a military operation was on the table over the attack on the protesters.
Officials in Tehran, meanwhile, have said that it would attack American troops in the region and even Israel if the US strikes Iran.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Khamenei, warned Trump on X Wednesday that Iran was ready to attack, as evident by last year’s strike on the Al Udeid US airbase in Qatar.
“The President of America, who repeatedly mentions the futile aggression against Iran’s nuclear centers, would do better to also refer to the plowing of the American Al Udeid base by Iranian missiles,” Shamkhani wrote on X.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also ramped up his threats, telling lawmakers that Tehran was ready to “set the region on fire” in the face of possible American intervention.
Additional reporting by Ronny Reyes
