Featured Image Credit: The White House/YouTube
Topics: Donald Trump, Iran, Politics, World News, US News
Callum Jones
Topics: Donald Trump, Iran, Politics, World News, US News
Donald Trump has provided an update on the current tensions in Iran after the Iranian government closed its airspace to commercial aircrafts without an explanation on Thursday (January 15).
It's believed over 18,100 people have been detained and over 2,400 protesters have died in Iran since demonstrations took place in December against the government.
Iran's currency, the rial, collapsed, and many citizens have been calling for political reform since the economic uncertainty.
Erfan Soltani is one of those to have been arrested in the Middle Eastern country and was he was handed the death penalty for attending a protest in Fardis, Karaj, on January 8.
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The 26-year-old was due to be executed on Wednesday (January 14), but his family received the news his killing had been suspended without any explanation.
Trump said in an interview with CBS on Tuesday (January 13) that his administration would 'take very strong action' if 'peaceful protestors' were executed by Iran, as he said: "We don’t want to see what’s happening in Iran happen."
The president added: "And you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing, when they start killing thousands of people, and now you’re telling me about hanging - we’ll see how that works out for them. It’s not going to work out good."
More recently, Trump said he's been told on 'good authority' that plans for executions in Iran had been brought to a halt.
"We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it’s stopped. It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions, or an execution," he told press in the Oval Office.
"There were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place – and we’re going to find out."
The president did note the US had yet to verify these claims.
Trump was then asked if US military action was now off the table amid previous claims, to which he responded: "We’re going to watch it and see what the process is."
Iran has since reopened its airspace after it was closed for nearly five hours late in the evening on Wednesday and into Thursday. The move saw airlines having to reroute, delay, and even cancel some flights.
In recent days, the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a warning to the US about taking potential military action.
"In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centres, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets," he said in a televised address.