Tehran has confirmed that Iranian protestor Erfan Soltani will not be executed after US President Donald Trump threatened military action.
The judiciary said Soltani, 26, is being charged with ‘colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime’ but that the death penalty does not apply to such charges if they are confirmed by a court.
It comes as Trump said he had been told by ‘very important sources on the other side’ the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, and that executions would not go ahead.
He had earlier warned clerics America would take ‘very strong action’ when asked what he would do if the Iranian regime started executing captured protesters, adding: ‘If they hang them you’re going to see something‘.
Soltani, a clothes shop owner arrested for taking part in the January 10 protests, was beld held in the Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj.
His family was told he would face the death penalty and that his imminent execution was scheduled for January 14.
The Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights told the Daily Mail last night that relatives of Soltani had been informed that the execution order was postponed, however.
Trump had repeatedly talked in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests that rights groups say has left at least 3,428 people dead.
But in a surprise announcement at the White House, Trump said he had now received assurances that Tehran had now stopped.
‘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,’ he said.
Erfan Soltani, a 26 year-old Iranian man arrested on January 10 during protests, has not been sentenced to death, the country’s judiciary was quoted as saying on Thursday by state media
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, but added that he would ‘watch it and see’ about threatened military action
Protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious centre on January 10, 2026
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