Iran protest killings have halted, Trump claims, as Tehran says executions are ‘out of the question’

Donald Trump has said he has been assured the killing of protesters in Iran has been halted, adding that he would “watch it and see” about threatened US military action, as tensions appeared to ease on Wednesday night.Trump had repeatedly talked in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests that Iran-human-rights" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="9079" data-entity-type="organization">Iran Human Rights, a group based in Norway, said had now killed at least 3,428 people and led to the arrest of more than 10,000.But in a surprise announcement at the White House, Trump said 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.“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place – 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,” Trump said.He offered no details and noted that the United States had yet to verify the claims.Asked if US military action was now off the table, Trump replied: “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is.”In a surprise development, Iran’s state media on Thursday morning announced that Erfan Soltani – who was reportedly facing imminent execution – had not been sentenced to death, according to Reuters.Earlier, Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told Fox News “there is no plan” by Iran to execute people in retaliation for the anti-government protests. “Hanging is out of the question,” he said.The moves to de-escalate tensions follow a flurry of activity that sparked concerns military action could be imminent. Iran closed its airspace to almost all flights without explanation early on Thursday, and airlines including Lufthansa said its flights would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice”.Some personnel at a key US military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate, and the US embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to temporarily halt going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country. The US embassy in Saudi Arabia also urged staff to exercise caution and avoid military installations.A senior Iranian official said Tehran had told regional countries hosting US bases, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, that it would attack those bases in the event of a US strike. In June, Iran struck al-Udeid after the US hit nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran, though the strike was telegraphed and largely symbolic.The UK temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran, while Spain, Poland and Italy urged its citizens to leave the country.However, Iran’s airspace reopened hours later, and Araghchi used his Fox News interview to tone down the rhetoric, urging the US to find a solution through negotiation.Asked what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”The latest comments from Trump prompted a sharp 3% drop in oil prices, as concerns over possible disruption to global supplies lessened. Gold and silver also dipped on the news.Crude prices had surged over recent days as Trump talked about coming to the aid of Iranian protesters.In a Reuters interview on Wednesday night, Trump expressed uncertainty as to whether exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi would be able to muster enough support within Iran to challenge the regime.“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said. “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.”The UN security council is slated to meet on Thursday afternoon for “a briefing on the situation in Iran,” according to a spokesperson for the Somali presidency.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”.With Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse