US President Donald Trump commented on the recent tensions with Iran in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
Asked whether the moving of aircraft carriers and F-15s to the Middle East is a prelude to further actions, Trump said again that Iranian authorities cancelled hundreds of planned executions because of his threat of military action.
“We hope there’s not going to be further action," Trump said. “They were shooting people indiscriminately on the streets and they were going to hang 837, mostly young people" after he threatened to hit them hard if they harmed protesters.
Trump has also addressed the Iranian nuclear issue and said the country should quit seeking nuclear weapons. “They gotta stop with the nuclear," he told CNBC.
On Tuesday night, Trump warned that the US would respond forcefully if Iran kills protesters or acts on assassination threats against him.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich, Trump was asked about reports that Iranian authorities are still burning thousands of protesters alive and about the assassination threat against him over the weekend.
“Well, they shouldn't be doing it, but I've left notification: Anything ever happens, the whole country is going to get blown up," Trump said. “But I have very firm instructions: Anything happens, they're going to wipe them off the face of this earth."
Earlier on Wednesday, Iran's state television released the first official figure regarding the number of deaths in the mass protests that have spread throughout the Islamic Republic.
According to the report, the total number of deaths stands at 3,117, including 2,427 civilians and security forces.
This figure contrasts significantly with reports from human rights organizations, which estimate that the number of deaths in the protests is much higher.