Man set to be executed in Iran will no longer face death penalty after Trump vowed 'very strong action'
The man who was set to be executed in Iran yesterday (14 January) will no longer face the death penalty.
It comes as Donald Trump warned there would be ‘very strong action’ from the states if executions went ahead.
Erfan Soltani was sentenced to death in the Middle Eastern country for attending protests in the city of Karaj earlier this month.
The 26-year-old’s family had called for the US president to get involved as it was reported that he would be executed on Wednesday. However, the death penalty does not apply to what the Iranian state media say Soltani has now been charged with if they are confirmed by a court.
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Earlier this week, Trump warned on Truth Social that a ‘big price’ would await Iranian officials if protestors were put to death.
Soltani’s family have now said that his execution has been postponed.
And Trump said at the White House that ‘very important sources on the other side’ have said the killings in Iran had now been halted and that the planned executions would not go ahead.
The president was also asked about if the US’ threatened military action was off the table and he said he would ‘watch it and see’.
Iranian state media has said today that Soltani was being charged with ‘colluding against the country's internal security and propaganda activities against the regime’.
Speaking before the postponement of his execution, a close relative who lives abroad, Somayeh, told The Guardian: “I spoke to his [nuclear] family yesterday and all I know is that they were trying to visit him in prison. I haven’t slept in two days.”
His family received little news about his condition following his arrest, with a brief, scheduled visit on Wednesday before his expected execution.
They then later received a call with the update from prison authorities, without further information.
“I can’t stop thinking about Erfan. The uncertainty is killing me,” Somayeh added. “How can anyone have the heart to put a rope round the neck of such a kind child and send him to die?”
More than 18,000 people have been detained and over 2,400 protestors have died following demonstrations breaking out across Iran at the end of last month, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists news agency.
The protests came after the collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, on 28 December, as citizens call for political reforms.
Trump told CBS on Tuesday: “We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen. And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging - we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good.”
Iran’s chief justice said on Wednesday that trials and executions would be swift as they told state media ‘we should do it now’ to have an impact.
And other judicial officials said protestors would be charged as ‘enemies of God’.
Topics: Donald Trump, Iran, World News, Politics
Jess Battison