Execution of 26-year-old Iranian garments store proprietor is POSTPONED after Trump threatened Mullahs with ‘sturdy’ response
The execution of a 26-year-old Iranian protester has been postponed, according to human rights groups and family members.
Erfan Soltani – a clothes shop owner – was sentenced to death just days after he was arrested in connection with protests in the Iranian city of Karaj.
According to information obtained by Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights through relatives of Mr Soltani, the execution order that was scheduled to be carried out on Wednesday had not been implemented and has been postponed.
The apparent decision by the Iranian government to hold off came amid concerns over a growing death toll from violent clashes across the country, with US President Donald Trump threatening ‘very strong action’ if Iran started hanging protesters.
‘If they hang them, you’re going to see some things,’ the US president warned on Tuesday.
Hengaw first reported that Mr Soltani was set to be executed, with the organisation reporting that authorities had told his family the death sentence was final.
But Iran on Wednesday seemingly bowed to pressure from the US after postponing the execution of Mr Soltani.
His family had warned the sentence had only been postponed and Mr Soltani, who is being held in solitary confinement inside the notorious Ghezel Hesar prison, could face execution at any time.
The execution of Iranian shop owner Erfan Soltani has reportedly been postponed
More than 3,400 people have been killed by Iranian security forces since the outbreak of protests at the end of December, according to human rights groups. Pictured: Protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets to protest against the Islamic Republic
A burnt car lies on the road following unrest sparked by dire economic conditions, in a place given as Tehran, Iran, January 10, 2026
Hours after the climbdown, Trump said he had been told ‘on good authority’ that plans for executions had stopped, even as Tehran has signalled fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters.
When asked if military action in Iran was still on the table, the US president told reporters he was monitoring the situation.
‘We’re going to watch and see what the process is, but we were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on’ Trump said.
According to a report by NBC, the president has told his national security team that he would want any US military action in Iran to deliver a swift and decisive blow to the Iranian regime, instead of sparking a war that would drag out for months.
Citing a source close to the White House, the report said that Trump’s advisers have, however, not been able to guarantee to him that the regime would quickly collapse after US military intervention, which could lead the president to approve a more limited offensive in Iran.
More than 3,400 people have been killed by Iranian security forces since the outbreak of protests at the end of December, according to the human rights organisation Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO).
Iran on Wednesday closed its airspace to all flights without permission, according to flight tracking website, Flightradar24.
The tracker said in a post on X that the country had issued a notice stating the airspace would be closed for ‘a little more than [two] hours’.
Communications restrictions, including an internet blackout, have hampered the flow of information in Iran. The U.N. stated that phone service had been restored, but the internet was still facing restrictions.
Holistic Resilience, a US-based organisation that works to expand information access in repressive or closed societies, announced on Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service is now available for free in Iran.
Cars are set on fire during a protest on Saadat Abad Square in Tehran on January 9
Donald Trump said he was monitoring the situation in Iran
The unrest, sparked by dire economic conditions, has posed the biggest internal challenge to Iran’s rulers for at least three years and has come at a time of intensifying international pressure after Israeli and US strikes last year.
The protests began on December 28 over the fall in value of the currency and have grown into wider demonstrations and calls for the fall of the clerical establishment.
Iran’s authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate. So far, there are no signs of fracture in the security elite that could bring down the clerical system in power since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Britain, France, Germany and Italy all summoned Iranian ambassadors in protest over the crackdown.
