Zürcher Nachrichten - Trump convinced 'to give Iran a chance' after threats over protest crackdown

Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and an almost week-long internet blackout.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO said on Wednesday that Iranian security forces had killed at least 3,428 protesters, warning that the final toll would be far higher.

Iranian authorities have lashed out at "rioters" who they claimed were backed by Israel and the US, vowing fast-track justice that activists fear will translate into a spree of executions.

Trump has not ruled out new military action against the Islamic republic under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after Washington backed Israel in its June 12-day war against Iran.

But with the belligerent rhetoric on all sides appearing to tone down for now, a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman led efforts to talk Trump out of an attack on Iran, fearing "grave blowbacks in the region".

The Gulf trio "led a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention", the official said on condition of anonymity.

Some personnel were moved out of a major US military base in Qatar on Wednesday, and staff at US missions in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were warned to exercise caution as fears mounted of a US attack.

In telephone talks on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Saudi Arabian counterpart Faisal bin Farhan of the importance of "global condemnation of foreign interference in the internal affairs of regional countries" and vowed Iran would defend itself "against any foreign threat", according to a statement on his Telegram account.

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia informed Iran it would not allow its airspace or territory to be used to attack the country, two sources close to the kingdom's government told AFP.

The developments came hours ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Iran later on Thursday, which was requested by the US.

- 'Good news' -

Up until Wednesday, the United States was threatening military action against Iran should it carry out the death penalty against people arrested over the protests.

In an announcement at the White House, Trump said he had now received assurances from "very important sources on the other side" that executions would not go ahead.

"They've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place -- there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won't take place -- and we're going to find out," Trump said.

Attention had focused on protester Erfan Soltani, 26, in prison in Karaj outside Tehran since his arrest, and rights groups said was due to be executed on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Iranian judiciary said Soltani has "not been sentenced to death" and was facing charges of propaganda against Iran's Islamic system and acting against national security.

If he is convicted, "the punishment, according to the law, will be imprisonment, as the death penalty does not exist for such charges".

In an interview with US network Fox News, Araghchi said there would be "no hanging today or tomorrow".

Commenting on Truth Social, Trump said: "This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!"

- 'Significant cost' -

Araghchi said the Iranian government was "in full control" and reported an atmosphere of calm after what he called three days of "terrorist operation".

The US-based Institute for the Study of War, which has monitored protest activity amid the shutdown, said it had recorded no protests on Wednesday.

But it added: "The regime is sustaining repressive measures that impose a significant cost on the regime. This suggests that the regime does not perceive that the threat from protests has subsided."

Despite the shutdown, new videos from the height of the protests, with locations verified by AFP, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue south of Tehran, wrapped in black bags as distraught relatives searched for loved ones.

One Red Crescent member of staff was killed and five other colleagues were wounded while on duty in northwestern Iran, the aid group's parent organisation said Thursday without giving the circumstances surrounding their deaths.

D.Graf--NZN