President Donald Trump on Friday thanked Iran’s government for canceling what he said were planned executions of more than 800 political prisoners, even as the death toll from weeks of demonstrations inside Iran continued to rise.
“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.” Trump also posted “Thank you!” on his social media site.
The remarks came after Trump had spent days suggesting that U.S. military action against Iran might be imminent if the government carried out mass executions during widespread protests. Trump said Friday that the decision not to execute prisoners had “a big impact” on his thinking.
When asked whether Arab and Israeli officials had convinced him to step back from suggestions of a U.S. strike on Iran, Trump said, “Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself.”
Protests Appear to Have Stopped; Death Toll Continues to Rise
Protests that began December 28 in Iran — initially over an ailing economy before expanding into demonstrations directly challenging the country’s theocracy — appeared to have stopped, the Associated Press reported. There had been no signs of unrest in Tehran for days, with shopping and street life returning to outward normality.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency put the death toll from the demonstrations at 2,797 as of Friday, a figure activists said continued to rise. A week-old internet blackout in Iran continued as of that date.
Authorities had not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country.
Trump’s Shifting Pledge to Protesters
Trump had previously posted to Iranian protesters, “Help is on the way.” Asked Friday whether that pledge still held, he said: “Well, we’re going to see.”
Trump did not clarify who he had been speaking with in Iran to confirm the status of planned executions.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the U.S. to make good on what he described as a dwindling pledge to intervene, calling Trump “a man of his word.”