Barney Davis
Published January 15, 2026 8:35pm
Updated January 15, 2026 8:35pm
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Donald Trump speaks with Benjamin Netanyahu embrace on a visit to Israeli Parliament (Picture: EPA)
Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke to Donald Trump and urged him to hold off on unleashing any strikes on Iran to give Israel more time to prepare for any retaliation.
With embassies in Tehran being evacuated and airspace being cleared, strikes on Iran seemed likely but a last minute phone call averted an all-out attack, according to The New York Times.
As tensions neared boiling point, Trump suddenly claimed that he had received information from ‘very important sources on the other side,’ that Iran had stopped killing dissidents.
‘We were told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,’ he said.
‘There’s no plan for executions or an execution. I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, I’ll be very upset.’
On Thursday, the White House claimed that 800 executions were halted in Iran, adding that Trump continues to closely monitor the situation.
‘We saved a lot of lives yesterday,’ Trump said in a phone call with NBC News.
Shortly after Trump’s comments, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that there are no plans for the ‘hanging’ of protesters.
Delegates from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt have also been asking the Trump administration not to attack Iran.
Protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets (Picture: UGC: AP)
The Iranian government has cut off internet service across the country with two Iranian officials telling The New York Times that at least 3,000 people had been killed.
Iran Human Rights Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: ‘Horrifying eyewitness accounts of protesters being shot dead while trying to flee, the use of military-grade weapons, and the street execution of wounded protesters all point to a planned and widespread crime carried out with the aim of mass killing civilians.
‘Ali Khamenei and the individuals and institutions acting under his authority have committed one of the gravest crimes of our time. The international community has a duty to act immediately to prevent the continuation of this killing. The people of Iran urgently need help.’
Erfan Soltani, who was arrested during protests in Iran, takes a selfie at an unknown location(Picture via REUTERS)
It came as a shopkeeper facing execution over his involvement in the Iran protests is no longer at risk of the death penalty.
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Erfan Soltani, 26, was detained last week as Iran has been swept by mass protests against the regime, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths and arrests after violence.
He is thought to have been the first Iranian protester facing death penalty since the latest demonstrations.
Soltani’s family said he could be executed at any moment before Iranian regime appeared to make a U-turn.
Iran’s state-controlled media said today that Soltani’s charge is ‘colluding against the country’s internal security and propaganda activities against the regime’ and that the death penalty does not apply to it if confirmed by a court.
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