Trump says he has been told killing of protesters in Iran ‘has stopped’

Trump has threatened to attack Iran, prompting Tehran to warn of retaliation amid growing fears of conflict.Published On 14 Jan 2026United States President Donald Trump says that the killings of antigovernment protesters in Iran have stopped, signalling a more measured approach to the crisis after threatening to attack Iran in response to the crackdown on demonstrators.Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he had been told that the killings of protesters in Iran have stopped and that plans for executions were halted, hours after the US began to withdraw some personnel from an airbase in Qatar amid growing fears of a renewed US-Iran conflict.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Funerals in Iran for civilians and security forces killed during protestslist 2 of 3Trump’s neo-con turn on Iranlist 3 of 3Iran, Gaza and the politics of counting the deadend of listAsked by journalists in Washington, DC, who had told him that the killings had been halted, Trump described them as “very important sources on the other side”.Trump also said he is “going to watch” how the crisis in Iran develops, suggesting he would adopt a wait-and-see approach, although he did not rule out potential US military action.“We are going to watch what the process is”, he said, before noting the US administration received a “very good statement” from Iran.Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said that the president’s comments on Wednesday signalled a softening of his tone towards Iran.“It does appear that he’s still mulling over various options; he’s been briefed by his national security council, but these statements we’ve just heard do indicate a potential cooling down of the situation and President Trump backing away from the precipice of imminent action, which he has been threatening,” he said.Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera that Trump’s claim that he had received information indicating killings in Iran had stopped appears, on the surface, to be a “face-saving way” to avoid military intervention, though it does not entirely rule out such a conflict.