Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly pressed former U.S. President Donald Trump to postpone any potential military strikes on Iran during a tense, last-minute phone call, as preparations intensified for a possible broader regional conflict, according to The New York Times.
At the time, diplomatic personnel were being evacuated from Tehran and airspace restrictions were imposed, signaling that an attack on Iran could be imminent. Netanyahu is said to have asked Trump to delay action to give Israel additional time to prepare for potential retaliation. Soon after, Trump publicly claimed he had received intelligence from “very important sources on the other side” indicating that Iran had stopped executing dissidents.
“We were told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,” Trump said. “There’s no plan for executions or an execution. I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it. If it does happen, I’ll be very upset.”
On Thursday, January 15, the White House stated that approximately 800 executions in Iran had been halted, adding that Trump was “closely monitoring the situation.” In a separate phone interview with NBC News, Trump remarked, “We saved a lot of lives yesterday.”
Following Trump’s comments, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that there were no plans to carry out executions of protesters.
Regional powers, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Egypt, reportedly appealed to the U.S. administration to avoid military action against Iran, warning that such a move could trigger a wider conflict across the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Iran remains engulfed in widespread anti-government protests and intense international scrutiny over its response. The government has imposed a nationwide internet shutdown, and two Iranian officials told The New York Times that at least 3,000 people had been killed during the unrest.
Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights, described accounts of protesters being shot while attempting to flee, the use of military-grade weapons, and the execution of wounded demonstrators as evidence of a coordinated and large-scale campaign aimed at killing civilians.
“Ali Khamenei and those acting under his authority have committed one of the most serious crimes of our time,” he said, urging the international community to intervene immediately to stop the violence. “The people of Iran urgently need help.”
Amid the turmoil, attention focused on Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old shopkeeper detained during the protests and believed to be at imminent risk of execution. He was thought to be the first protester facing capital punishment since the demonstrations began, prompting warnings from his family that he could be executed at any moment before Iranian authorities appeared to reverse course.
Iranian state media later reported that the charges against Soltani — including “collusion against national security and propaganda against the regime” — do not carry the death penalty if upheld by a court.
