Iran Says Protester Erfan Soltani Not On Death Row Amid Trump’s Threats

Iran Says Protester Erfan Soltani Not On Death Row Amid Trump’s Threats

Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old Iranian, has not been sentenced to death, according to state media. International NGOs had warned that Soltani faced imminent execution, with Washington threatening military action if Tehran went ahead with the alleged plan.

Quoting Iran’s judiciary, the state media reported that Soltani is imprisoned in Karaj after his arrest and is facing charges of propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system and acting against national security, the judiciary said in a statement carried by state TV. 

He 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,” it added. 

Earlier, at least two human rights groups warned that Soltani had been sentenced to death, with the US State Department saying he would be the first protester executed during the current unrest, but not the last.

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Following this, Trump repeatedly threatened Iran with action if it executes protesters.

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However, the US leader on Wednesday indicated that he might hold off on attacking Iran for now after saying he was reassured by sources “on the other side” that the government in Tehran would stop killing people involved in widespread protests against the regime led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping – it’s stopped,” Trump told reporters. He said he’d been “informed by very important sources on the other side” about the decision not to proceed with the killings, and that he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued.

Asked if military action was off the table, Trump said he would “watch it” and “see what the process is.”

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“But we were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on,” he said.

The comments marked a shift in tone a day after he urged Iranians to continue protests against the Khamenei government and vowed to “act accordingly” after being briefed on the killings of protesters. He posted on social media that “help is on the way”.