Trump says he’s been assured Tehran has stopped killing protesters as Iran reopens its airspace – live

From 36m agoIranian judiciary says protester Erfan Soltani not sentenced to deathIran’s judiciary says Erfan Soltani has not been sentenced to death, according to Iranian state media.Soltani, 26, was the first Iranian protester sentenced to death since the current unrest began.His family said earlier that it had been told his execution had been postponed.We’ll bring you more on this latest development – reported just now by Reuters – as it comes to hand.Soltani, a clothing shop employee, was arrested north-west of Tehran last Thursday after participating in protests and was due to be executed on Wednesday, according to rights groups.Erfan Soltani was the first Iranian protester sentenced to death amid the current unrest. Photograph: Family HandoutKey events36m agoIranian judiciary says protester Erfan Soltani not sentenced to death1h agoDeepfake videos flood web amid Iran internet blackout3h agoOil prices plunge as Iran instability fears ease3h agoIndia latest country to urge its citizens to leave Iran3h agoOpening summaryShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureMore now on Erfan Soltani: the 26-year-old Iranian man arrested on 10 January during Iran’s protests has not been sentenced to death, the country’s judiciary was quoted by state media as saying on Thursday.The judiciary said Soltani was being charged with “colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime” but that the death penalty did not apply to such charges if they were confirmed by a court, Reuters has just reported.Soltani is being held in the central penitentiary of Karaj, the report said.Iranian judiciary says protester Erfan Soltani not sentenced to deathIran’s judiciary says Erfan Soltani has not been sentenced to death, according to Iranian state media.Soltani, 26, was the first Iranian protester sentenced to death since the current unrest began.His family said earlier that it had been told his execution had been postponed.We’ll bring you more on this latest development – reported just now by Reuters – as it comes to hand.Soltani, a clothing shop employee, was arrested north-west of Tehran last Thursday after participating in protests and was due to be executed on Wednesday, according to rights groups.Erfan Soltani was the first Iranian protester sentenced to death amid the current unrest. Photograph: Family HandoutDeepfake videos flood web amid Iran internet blackoutAI-generated videos purportedly depicting protests in Iran have flooded the web, researchers say, as social media users push hyper-realistic deepfakes to fill an information void amid the country’s internet restrictions.US disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said it identified seven AI-generated videos depicting the Iranian protests – created by both pro- and anti-government actors – that had collectively amassed about 3.5m views across online platforms.Among them was a video shared on Elon Musk’s X showing women protesters smashing a vehicle belonging to the Basij, the Iranian paramilitary force deployed to suppress the protests, reports Agence France-Presse.One X post featuring the AI clip – shared by what NewsGuard described as anti-regime users – garnered nearly 720,000 views.A genuine image of Iranians attending an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, last Friday. Photograph: APAnti-regime X and TikTok users in the US also posted AI videos depicting Iranian protesters symbolically renaming local streets after Donald Trump.The AI creations highlight the growing prevalence of what experts call “hallucinated” visual content on social media during major news events, often overshadowing authentic images and videos.Tensions between the US and Iran appear to have eased as Donald Trump adopted a more measured tone towards Tehran and suggested a pause in his decision on threatened US military action.As you can read in our fresh full report, Trump had spoken repeatedly in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the ruling regime’s crackdown on protests that a human rights group says has now killed at least 3,428 people and led to the arrest of more than 10,000.But as mentioned earlier, Trump said in a surprise announcement at the White House that he had received assurances from “very important sources on the other side” that Tehran had now stopped the use of lethal force on protesters and that executions would not go ahead.Asked if US military action was now off the table, Trump responded: “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is.”You can read the full report here:A protester holds a flag showing the Pahlavi dynasty on it during a demonstration against Iran’s ruling regime outside its embassy in London. Photograph: Krisztián Elek/ShutterstockMoving for a moment to Australia, protesters have staged a rally outside the Iranian embassy in Canberra to demand regime change in Iran.About 100 demonstrators chanted “democracy for Iran” and “King Reza Pahlavi”, a reference to the last Iranian shah’s exiled son – a key figure in the anti-government protests.James Younessi, a Sydney doctor who spoke at the demonstration, said he would happily move back to his home country if the regime was overthrown, Australian Associated Press has reported.But he was hesitant about more American intervention in the Middle East, saying: I don’t want Iran to be indentured to any foreign nation the moment anybody interferes. But if it means saving one life for it, we want a measured response that we can have this bloodshed ended. The demonstration outside the Iranian embassy in Canberra, Australia, on Thursday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPAnother protester, Omid Fakhri, who hadn’t heard from his family in Iran because of the internet blackout, was more positive about US military action.“We don’t care which military, just a military is fine, as long as they can go in and stop the massacre,” he said.Foreign minister Penny Wong said Australia continued to urge people not to travel to Iran, and warned the security situation could deteriorate rapidly.A little more now on Iran’s reopening of its airspace to flights after a near-five-hour closure that forced airlines to cancel, reroute or delay some flights.Iran closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 10.15pm GMT on Wednesday, according to a notice on the US Federal Aviation Administration website.The notice was removed shortly before 3am GMT, according to tracking service Flightradar24, which showed five flights from Iranian carriers Mahan Air, Yazd Airways and AVA Airlines were among the first to resume over the country.Map showing flights avoiding Iran earlier as airspace above the country was closed. Photograph: Flight Radar 24Oil prices plunge as Iran instability fears easeThe price of oil dropped on Thursday after concerns over instability in Iran were eased by comments from Donald Trump, and gold and silver prices also dipped.West Texas Intermediate fell 3.0% to $60.16 a barrel while Brent crude was down 2.93% to $64.57.The plunge came after the US president said he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted.Reaction across Asian markets has been mixed as trading got under way on Thursday. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Wellington, Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur fell, while Sydney, Seoul, Bangkok and Manila posted minimal gains.Concern that the Iran situation could restrict supplies of crude had caused oil prices to rise about 1.5% on Wednesday.India latest country to urge its citizens to leave IranIndia has advised its citizens to leave Iran by any transport possible.The Indian embassy in Tehran said in a post on X: Indian nationals who are currently in Iran (students, pilgrims, business persons and tourists) are advised to leave Iran by available means of transport, including commercial flights. The embassy also advised its citizens to be cautious and “avoid areas of protests or demonstrations”.The US, Germany and Spain are among the counties reported to have earlier advised their citizens to leave Iran.Opening summaryWelcome to our continuing live coverage of the crisis in Iran.Donald Trump says he has been assured that the killing of Iranian protesters has been halted, adding when asked about whether the threatened US military action was now off the table that he will “watch it and see”.The president said at the White House that “very important sources on the other side” had now assured him that Iranian executions would not go ahead. “They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said. “There were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place – and we’re going to find out.”Earlier, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that executions executions were not taking place and there would be “no hanging today or tomorrow”. “I’m confident that there is no plan for hanging.”The family of Erfan Soltani, the first Iranian protester sentenced to death since the current unrest began, has been told his execution has been postponed.Here are some of the other latest developments: Trump said Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty about whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over. “I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump told Reuters in the Oval Office. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet. I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.” Iran has reopened its airspace after a near-five-hour closure that forced airlines to cancel, reroute or delay some flights. The United Nations security council is scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon for “a briefing on the situation in Iran”, according to a spokesperson for the Somali presidency. The scheduling note said the briefing was requested by the US. Iranian women wearing chadors walk near a mural depicting Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (top left) in Tehran. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA Some US and UK personnel have been evacuated as a precaution from sites in the Middle East. The British embassy in Tehran has also been temporarily closed. Spain, Italy and Poland advised their citizens to leave Iran. It followed a call by the US urging its citizens to leave Iran, suggesting land routes to Turkey or Armenia. Araghchi insisted the situation was “under control” and urged the US to engage in diplomacy. “Now there’s calm,” the Iranian foreign minister said. “We have everything under control, and let’s hope that wisdom prevails and we don’t end up in a situation of high tension that would be catastrophic for everyone.” The death toll in Iran from the regime’s crackdown stands at 2,571 people, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists news agency. More than 18,100 have been arrested, it said. Foreign ministers from the G7 group said they were “prepared to impose additional restrictive measures” on Iran over its handling of the protests, and the “deliberate use of violence, the killing of protesters, arbitrary detention and intimidation tactics”.