Iran’s chief prosecutor on Friday rejected a recent statement by President Trump that Iran had called off over 800 executions, declaring the president’s comments to be “completely false.”
In a Truth Social post last week, Trump stated, “I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (Over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!”
Mohammad Movahedi, Iran’s top prosecutor, said Friday that “This claim is completely false; no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision,” according to The Associated Press.
“We have a separation of powers, the responsibilities of each institution are clearly defined, and we do not, under any circumstances, take instructions from foreign powers,” Movahedi reportedly added in remarks published by the Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency.
When asked for comment Friday, a White House official told Digital that Trump is monitoring the situation in Iran very seriously and that all options remain on the table if the Tehran regime executes protesters.
The official added that demonstrators who were set to be sentenced to death were not.
The White House official also said Trump views this as good news and hopes the trend continues.
“What I will say with respect to Iran is that the president and his team have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week.
As of Friday, there have been 5,032 deaths during the protests in Iran, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Iran’s government provided its first death toll Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had been killed. It claimed that 2,427 of those killed in the demonstrations that began Dec. 28 were civilians and security forces, with the rest being “terrorists.”