President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran had canceled 800 planned executions and thanked the country's leaders for not carrying them out.
"I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!" he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump earlier this week urged Iranians to keep protesting and remember the names of those abusing them, saying help is on the way, as Iran's clerical establishment pressed its crackdown against the biggest demonstrations in years.
"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!... HELP IS ON ITS WAY," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might be.
An Iranian official said about 2,000 people had been killed, the first time authorities have given an overall death toll from more than two weeks of nationwide unrest.
U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said that of the 2,003 people whose deaths it had confirmed, 1,850 were protesters. The group said 16,784 people had been detained, a sharp increase from the figure it gave on Monday.
Questioned about who convinced him to back down from suggestions that he would strike Iran, Trump, ahead of a trip to Florida, told reporters, "Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself."
"You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone," Trump said. "They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact."
Reuters contributed to this report.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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