Trump warns Iran of ‘very strong action’ if it executes protesters

This comes after relatives of Erfan Soltani, 26, arrested last week, told BBC Persian that his execution is scheduled for this Wednesday.

Awyer Shekhi of the Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw fears there will be “many” cases like Soltani’s.

During an interview with CBS, when asked about reports that protesters will be executed this Wednesday, Trump stated that the United States will take “very strong measures if they do such a thing.”

Referring to the deaths of protesters in Iran, the president stated that “it seems like a considerable number.”

More than 2,400 anti-government protesters have been killed in a violent crackdown by Iranian authorities, according to a US-based human rights group.

Despite Trump’s warnings, Iran’s judiciary announced “quick” trials on Wednesday for detained protesters in anti-regime protests.

The demonstrations began as a protest against the cost of livingbut they have become a movement against the theocratic regime that has governed the country since the 1979 revolution and that since 1989 has been led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“More than 10,600 protesters were detained (…) One of them is Erfan Soltani, 26, whose execution is scheduled for January 14,” the State Department said in a message in Farsi on the X network.

Amnesty called on Iran to “immediately suspend all executions, including that of Soltani.”

The head of the judiciary, Gholamhosein Mohseni Ejei, spent five hours this Wednesday in a Tehran prison where protesters – described as “troublemakers” by the authorities – are detained to study their cases, Iranian media reported.

After the visit he promised “rapid” and “public” trials.

“If someone has set a person on fire, decapitated them before burning their body, we must do our job quickly,” he declared.

The United States already bombed Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, as part of the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic.