Post #4855

Khamenei Promised to “Kill’ Em All” The Iranian government has signalled that detained protesters are to face speedy trials and executions, defying a threat by Trump, to intervene if authorities continue their crackdown. The comments from Iran’s chief justice on Wednesday came as human rights groups warned that executions of protesters could take place soon. A 26-year-old protester, Erfan Soltani, was slated to face execution on Wednesday, the first anti-government demonstrator to be given a death sentence. It was unclear whether the execution had proceeded or not, as authorities typically carry out death penalties at dawn. “I am in complete shock, I keep feeling as if I am in a dream,” Somayeh, a relative of Soltani, told CNN. “People trusted Trump’s words and came to the streets. I beg you, please do not let Erfan be executed.” Iran’s signal that it will carry on with executions came despite Trump threatening to “take very strong action” if Iranian authorities begin executing anti-government protesters this week. Israeli assessments, according to Reuters, indicate that Trump has decided to intervene in Iran, but it is still unclear what form or scale military action could take. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action,” Trump told CBS News in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night, hours before the US president was due to be briefed on the scale of casualties inside Iran. Neighbouring countries to Iran, including Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have reportedly discouraged the US from intervening in Iran – warning that doing so could ignite a “full-scale war”. That war would “certainly” have severe consequences “not only on the Middle East but on the global economy”, a Cairo-based diplomat told the Associated Press, pointing to a potential response by Iranian-backed militias across the region. The death toll in Iran has soared as authorities have carried out a brutal crackdown, with 2,571 people killed and more than 18,100 people arrested, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA). Already, the death toll from the two-week protest movement dwarfs any other in Iran since its 1979 revolution. Protesters said there was a heavy security force on Wednesday as authorities prepared for a mass funeral of 300 security forces and civilians killed in demonstrations. “We are very frightened because of these sounds [of gunfire] and protests,” a mother of two told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “We have heard many are killed and many are injured. Now peace has been restored but schools are closed and I’m scared to send my children to school again.” The 26-year-old was arrested in Karaj on Thursday, a city on the north-west outskirts of Tehran, at the peak of the protests before the internet blackout. Trump told CBS he was aware a “pretty substantial number” of people had been killed over the more than two weeks of demonstrations. Iranian state television has offered the first official acknowledgment of the deaths, quoting an official saying the country had “a lot of martyrs”. On Tuesday evening, the state department warned US citizens to leave Iran immediately, and various western countries issued similar travel warnings. Earlier, Trump had posted a message of support to protesters on Truth Social. “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” he wrote. “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” In response, Iran’s UN mission vowed Washington’s “playbook” would “fail again”. “US fantasies and policy toward Iran are rooted in regime change, with sanctions, threats, engineered unrest, and chaos serving as the modus operandi to manufacture a pretext for military intervention,” the statement posted on X said. #trump#khamenei#iran#tehran#civilians#killed 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸