WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Friday he welcomed Iran’s decision to cancel a large number of scheduled executions.

"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 said on Truth Social.

However, according to local media reports, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, an Iranian cleric, said Friday that protesters in the capital Tehran should face execution.

Trump has repeatedly voiced support for protesters in Iran and sharply criticized Iranian authorities’ handling of the demonstrations, which began on Dec. 28 in Tehran, over the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial and worsening economic conditions. Demonstrations later spread to several other cities.

The US president has previously indicated that he could launch military strikes on Iran if authorities in the country responded to the protests with lethal force, but reportedly moved away from this option after learning of the Iranian authorities' decison to cancel the planned executions.

'I convinced myself'

Later Friday, Trump told the reporters that he alone made the decision not to launch a military strike against Iran, dismissing reports that Arab and Israeli officials had influenced his choice to hold off on strikes for now.

"Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself," he told reporters as he departed from the White House for South Florida, where is expected to spend the weekend.

"You had, yesterday, scheduled, over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact," he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly spoken with Trump multiple times this week, urging him to delay strikes to grant Israel additional time to prepare defenses against possible Iranian retaliation.
Asked whether help was still "on the way" for Iranian protesters, as he had promised in recent days, Trump said, “We’re going to see. As you know, Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people. They were going to hang over 800 people yesterday, and I greatly respect the fact that they canceled them."

While the Trump administration has not ruled out military strikes, concerns reportedly persist within the administration and among allies on whether targeted strikes on Iranian security forces would be decisive against Tehran or merely invite counterattacks.

Simultaneously, the US military is evacuating personnel from bases in the Middle East and sending reinforcements to the region, including the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group, previously deployed in the South China Sea.

In a related move to step up economic pressure on Iran, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on the secretary general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, as well as other officials linked to the crackdown on protests.