As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests, a hard-line cleric called Friday sought death penalty for detained protestors.
Dubai: As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened US President Donald Trump, evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.
Trump, though, struck a conciliatory note, thanking Iran’s leaders for not executing hundreds of detained protesters, in a further sign he may be backing away from a military strike. Executions, as well as the killing of peaceful protesters, are two of the red lines laid down by Trump for possible action against Iran.
Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy.
There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country.
“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that “I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”
Trump did not clarify who he spoke to in Iran to confirm the state of any planned executions.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the death toll at 3,090. The number, which exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise.
The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.
The AP has been unable to independently confirm the toll. Iran’s government has not provided casualty figures.
In contrast, the sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami carried by Iranian state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”
Khatami, a member of Iran’s Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council long known for his hard-line views, described the protesters as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.
