US President Donald Trump on Friday thanked the Iranian regime for cancelling what he said were hundreds of planned executions of anti-regime protesters.
“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!" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Speaking to reporters later, Trump was asked whether Arab and Israeli officials convinced him not to strike Iran, and he replied, “No one convinced me. I convinced myself."
“You had, yesterday, scheduled, over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact," he added.
The post and comments come two days after Trump claimed that the killing of protesters in Iran had ceased, as it appeared as though a US strike in Iran was imminent.
"We have been notified pretty strongly that the killing in Iran is stopping, and there's no plan for executions or an execution," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
He noted that "I've been told that in good authority. We'll find out about it, I'm sure. If it happens, we'll be very upset."
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, spoke on Thursday night at the opening session of the 10th Israeli American Council (IAC) National Summit in Florida and revealed that at Trump’s direction, the US communicated with the Iranians on Wednesday to express concerns about the mass hangings that were rumored to be on the way. “And that's been shut down, I think, as everyone knows, the President has announced that. He's the only one in the world who has that indomitable strength that can bend people. I watch it happen. It's quite remarkable to watch it happen."
Asked whether he thinks there will be some kind of military action against Iran, Witkoff replied, “Well, I hope there's a diplomatic resolution. I really do. There are four issues: Nuclear enrichment, missiles, they have to cut back on their inventory, the actual material that they have, which is roughly 2,000 kilograms which is enriched anywhere between 3.67% to 60%, and the proxies, of course."
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)