Iran averts US strikes for now with vow to avoid executions

Arsalan Shahla, Bloomberg News on Jan 15, 2026

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Iran may have averted U.S. strikes for now by pledging not to execute protesters after pressure from President Donald Trump.

Trump told reporters Wednesday he had been informed the “killing in Iran is stopping,” adding he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued. That was a marked shift from earlier in the week, when he urged Iranians to keep demonstrating and vowed that “help is on the way.”

Oil fell for the first time in six days as concerns eased over the likelihood of disruptions to supplies from Iran and Arab Gulf states. Brent dropped as much as 4.6% on Thursday — the most since November — paring gains of about 11% over the past week.

On Thursday Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Iran’s decision not to sentence protesters to death is “good news” and that he hopes it “will continue.” Iran’s judiciary ruled out on Wednesday a death sentence for 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, whom activists had said was at risk of imminent execution.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi gave an interview Wednesday to Fox News — one of the few U.S. outlets consistently favored by Trump — to rule out executions of protesters. That appeared to respond directly to the president’s earlier warning that he could take “very strong action” if Iran went down that route.

“Hanging is out of the question,” Araghchi said on Special Report with Bret Baier. “I haven’t heard about that, and there’s no hanging today, tomorrow, or whatever. I can tell you, I’m confident about that. There’s no plan for hanging at all.”

Turkey opposes military intervention against Iran, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday, adding he hoped Tehran and Washington can resolve their differences through dialog. Instability in Iran, he said, would be beyond the region’s capacity to manage.

Tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed flights resuming over Iran’s airspace after a temporary closure. Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said both inbound and outbound flights are underway, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

A series of developments earlier on Wednesday suggested Tehran and Washington were edging close to conflict. Iran temporarily closed its airspace amid reports of a partial redeployment of U.S. troops from Qatar and other regional bases, while the U.K. announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Iran. Tensions remain high across the region, with the prospects of a renewed flare up — including a U.S. intervention — still possible.

The protests in Iran appear to have receded since last week, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets nationwide to demonstrate against the regime of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Authorities say they have reasserted control, accusing the U.S. and Israel of fueling unrest and arming terrorists to kill civilians.

Pro-government rallies and state-planned public funerals have dominated state TV coverage, though an ongoing nationwide internet blackout continues to hamper reporting of events on the ground.

Rights groups continued to report a mounting death toll from the demonstrations that began in late December and escalated significantly last week. The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights group said at least 3,428 protesters have died, marking it Tehran’s deadliest crackdown on dissidents in decades.

Araghchi reiterated the stance that “diplomacy is much better than war” and pushed back against additional U.S. strikes. “Do not repeat the same mistake that you did in June. If you try a failed experience, you will get the same result,” he said.

Iran and U.S. officials were locked in several rounds of Oman-mediated negotiations in June over Tehran’s atomic activities when Israel began airstrikes, abruptly ending the talks.

In response, Iran struck a U.S. air base in Qatar and has banned international nuclear inspectors from examining its sites, leaving the whereabouts of a stockpile of near bomb grade uranium unknown.

Rights groups report that more than 18,000 people have been detained, with fears persisting of large-scale enforcement of the death penalty.

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—With assistance from Chris Miller and Beril Akman.