PARIS: An Iranian protester whom the United States feared faced imminent execution will not be sentenced to death, the judiciary said on Thursday (Jan 15), while US President Donald Trump said he would “watch it and see” about threatened military action.
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 have left at least 3,428 people dead.
The demonstrations were sparked by economic grievances but evolved rapidly into a nationwide push to unseat the Islamic Republic in place since 1979.
The protests, which have seen thousands of people take to the streets in all corners of Iran against a government with zero tolerance for dissent, have constituted the greatest challenge the ruling theocratic system has faced.
Up until Wednesday, the US was threatening military action against the authorities should they carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests.
In an announcement at the White House, Trump said he had now received assurances from “very important sources on the other side” that executions would not go ahead.
All eyes were on protester Erfan Soltani, 26, in prison in Karaj outside Tehran since his arrest, who is facing charges of propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system and acting against national security.
On Thursday, the Iranian judiciary said Soltani has “not been sentenced to death” and if he is convicted, “the punishment, according to the law, will be imprisonment, as the death penalty does not exist for such charges”.
Source: CNA
