Iran’s chief justice says swift justice for protesters is needed, as Trump’s military threat looms
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The death toll from unrest in Iran has risen to nearly 2,600, a rights group said on Wednesday, as Tehran tightened ties with US allies in the region over the crisis that has prompted threats of intervention by US President Donald Trump.
According to Israel’s assessment, Trump has decided to intervene, but the scope and timing of this action is not yet clear, said an Israeli official.
A second Israeli source, a senior government official, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was briefed late Tuesday on the possibility of a regime collapse and the possibility of US intervention in Iran, the arch-enemy with whom it fought a 12-day war last year.
Meanwhile, some personnel were advised to leave the US military base at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Wednesday evening, three diplomats told Reuters.
The US embassy in Doha could not immediately comment.
Al Udeid is the largest US base in the Middle East, housing approximately 10,000 troops. Prior to the US air strike on Iran in June, some personnel were evacuated from the U.S. bases in the Middle East.
In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Trump vowed “strong action” if Iran starts hanging protesters, but did not elaborate. “If you hang them, you’ll see certain things,” he said. He also urged Iranians on Tuesday to continue protesting and occupying institutions, saying “help is on the way” but without giving details.
Trump has said military action is one of the ways he is considering punishing Iran for abuses. Iran has vowed to retaliate in the event of war.
Iranian officials plan to calm down
Responding to Trump’s message on social media on Tuesday indicating that “aid is on the way,” the United Nations Ambassador to Iran, Amir Saeid Iravani, said the American president is inciting violence, threatening the country’s sovereignty and security, and wants to undermine the government.
The protests, which began on December 28 over inflation, have grown into one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s clerical establishment since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
As thousands of people are feared dead in Iran, US President Donald Trump says ‘help is on the way,’ and encourages anti-government protesters to stay in the streets. Omid Memarian, an Iranian human rights expert and senior fellow at DAWN, a Washington-based organization focused on the Middle East, says US intervention could take ‘many different forms.’ There have been many ‘conflicting messages’ from the White House, Memarian said, adding that the US may be doing so to ‘maintain the element of surprise.’
Despite Trump’s harsh rhetoric, just two weeks after a swift, controversial military operation that captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro was sparked, Iran’s chief justice said the speed of judging and punishing those who “cut off heads or burned people” was essential to ensure that such events never happen again. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei made comments about the trials and executions in a video, visiting the Tehran prison where the arrested protesters are being held.
Hengaw, an Iranian Kurdish rights group, reported that a 26-year-old man, Erfan Soltani, who was arrested in connection with protests in the city of Karaj, will be executed on Wednesday.
Hengaw told Reuters on Wednesday that he could not confirm that Soltani’s sentence had been meted out due to the internet and communications blackouts. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
Iranian media reported that the head of Iran’s top security agency spoke with Qatar’s foreign minister and that Iran’s foreign minister spoke with his Emirati and Turkish counterparts. All countries are US allies.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed that “there is calm” and that the Iranian people are determined to protect their sovereignty and security from any foreign interference, state media reported.
The flow of information from Iran has been disrupted by internet blackouts. Holistic Resilience, an American organization that works to increase access to information in oppressive or closed communities, said on Tuesday that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is now available for free in Iran.
The US-based rights group HRANA said it has so far confirmed the deaths of 2,403 protesters and 147 government officials.
State TV said the funeral will be held on Wednesday in Tehran where more than 100 civilians and security forces were killed in the chaos.
Russia condemns interference in Iran’s affairs
Iranian authorities have accused the United States and Israel of fomenting the unrest, blaming the violence on people it calls terrorists who have attacked security forces, mosques and public property.
While Iranian authorities have dealt with previous protests, the latest unrest continues as Tehran is still recovering from last year’s war and its regional position has been weakened by strikes from allies such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.
As anti-government protests intensify in Iran, US President Donald Trump is urging Iranians to continue protesting, saying ‘help is on the way.’ Dana Stroul, the former deputy secretary of defense for the Middle East, adds that at least 2,000 people have been killed in the two weeks of protests and around 10,700 have been arrested.
On Monday, Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from any country that does business with Iran, a major oil exporter.
The US State Department earlier this week urged US citizens to leave Iran now, including by land through Turkey or Armenia.
Russia on Tuesday condemned “foreign interference” in Iran’s internal politics, saying any repeat of last year’s US strikes would have “serious consequences” for the Middle East and global security.
