Trump warns US will 'take very strong action' if Iran starts executing arrested protesters [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Wed 14 Jan 2026 06.14 CET
President Donald Trump has warned that the United States will take "very strong action" if Iranian authorities proceed with the execution of anti-government protesters this week. In an interview with CBS News, Trump stated that such a move would "not work out good" for the regime, referencing past U.S. strikes in Venezuela and the 2019 killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Additionally, Trump sent a message of support to protesters via Truth Social, urging "Iranian Patriots" to keep protesting and take over their institutions, adding that "help is on its way."
The report highlights the critical case of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was arrested in Karaj last Thursday. There are growing fears that Soltani faces imminent execution following a swift trial and conviction. Amnesty International has raised alarms that Iranian authorities may once again be resorting to arbitrary executions to crush dissent. Human rights groups report that the death toll from the crisis has surged past 2,500, including 12 children, marking the deadliest unrest in Iran in decades.
According to data from HRANA, more than 18,100 people have been detained during the crackdown, with reports indicating that many confessions are being coerced through torture. In light of the escalating violence, the U.S. State Department has issued an urgent warning for all American citizens to leave Iran immediately. Various other Western countries have followed suit with similar travel warnings as the situation remains highly volatile.
In response to the threats, Iran’s UN mission dismissed the U.S. warnings as a "pretext for military intervention," claiming that Washington’s playbook of seeking regime change through engineered unrest would fail again. Meanwhile, Iranian security forces are reportedly conducting raids on apartment buildings to search for Starlink satellite terminals and illegal satellite dishes in an effort to maintain a total communications blackout.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/14/iran-protests-erfan-soltani-donald-trump-warning-executions-hangings
= new reply since forum marked as read