U.S. President Donald Trump, regarding the Iranian government's indiscriminate killings of anti-government protesters, said, "I heard that the killings (of protesters) in Iran have stopped."
On the 14th (local time), President Trump stated accordingly at a White House signing ceremony, "We were notified quite strongly. However, we will look into what all of that means."
Trump said, "There is no plan for executions, nor is there one or multiple executions," and added, "If such a thing had happened, everyone would have been outraged." He continued, "We have just received information that the killings have stopped and that executions have stopped," adding, "There will be no executions that people have been talking about over the past few days."
To the question, "Does that rule out a military operation option against Iran?" Trump said, "We will see how the process unfolds," and emphasized, "But we have received very good news from people who know well what is happening (in Iran)."
Earlier, Trump had pointed to the government's bloody crackdown on Iranian protesters and repeatedly hinted at military intervention. However, with this remark seen as a sudden shift in his stance, opinions are divided over how the United States will respond going forward.
Contrary to Trump's remarks, it has been confirmed that excessive crackdowns on protesters are continuing in Iran.
Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based civic group, said at day 18 of the protests that at least 3,428 participants had been killed. That is about five times the 734 tallied the previous day.
That day, Iran's judiciary signaled it would move quickly with trials and sentencing procedures for citizens arrested after taking part in protests over economic hardship.
Iran's chief justice, Mohseni Ejei, emphasized, "If (punishment) is delayed for two months or three months, it cannot have the same effect," adding, "If we have to do something, we have to do it quickly now."
Iran's prosecution previously labeled the current protests as the crime of "moharebeh (enemy of God)," which denies Islam. This is interpreted to mean it will seek the death penalty for protesters.