(WBAP/KLIF) AP — U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he’s been told “on good authority” that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, even as Tehran has signaled fast trials and executions ahead in its crackdown on protesters.
The U.S. president’s claims, which were made with few details, come as he’s told protesting Iranians in recent days that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to the Iranian government.
But Trump has not offered any details about how the U.S. might respond and it wasn’t clear if his comments Wednesday indicated he would hold off on action. Earlier Wednesday, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, Iran’s judiciary chief, said the government must act quickly to punish more than 18,000 people who have been detained through rapid trials and executions.
The security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,586, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Here is the latest:
Iranian foreign minister asks UN to condemn terrorism
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for the top U.N. official to condemn and reject “all acts of terrorism during the unrests regardless of the incentives.”
Araghchi reiterated Iranian officials’ claims, without providing evidence, that the U.S. and Israel have been directly involved in the escalation of recent nationwide protests in Iran that have killed more than 2,500 Iranians.
“Peaceful protests started from Dec. 28, 2025 on economic grounds were sabotaged by terrorist elements who turned them into armed riots,” he wrote to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Iranian government holds mass funeral
A mass funeral was held in Tehran for some 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations. Tens of thousands of mourners attended, holding Iranian flags and photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The caskets, draped in Iranian flags, stood stacked at least three high. Red and white roses and framed photographs of the dead covered them.
Iranians describe the government’s crackdown
“We are very frightened because of these sounds (of gunfire) and protests,” said a mother of two shopping for fruits and vegetables, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“We have heard many are killed and many are injured. Now peace has been restored, but schools are closed, and I’m scared to send my children to school again.”
Ahmadreza Tavakoli, 36, told The Associated Press he witnessed one demonstration in Tehran and was shocked by the use of firearms by authorities.
“People were out to express themselves and protest, but quickly it turned into a war zone,” Tavakoli said. “The people do not have guns. Only the security forces have guns.”
Iranians and Germans protest in Berlin
At a protest march of 900 Iranian exiles and German supporters in Berlin on Wednesday night, Maryam Nejatipur, 32, told The Associated Press how unbearably worried she was about her family back home.
“They’re in a complete blackout. We don’t have any news,” said the former teacher who was forced to leave her home country about two years ago.
She said she didn’t know how to get through the days since Iran shut down the internet and phones and she could not longer find out if her family was still alive.
She sobbed and said really she was not only worried about her immediate family but all Iranians. “There are 90 million people inside Iran and they are killing all of them,” she said.
US met with exiled former crown prince of Iran
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff has met with exiled former crown prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi, a White House official confirmed on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity about the private meeting. The official provided no further details.
Italy foreign ministry advises Italian citizens to leave
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has been meeting on Wednesday evening with officials from the Italian Ministry of Defense, the Italian Ambassador to Tehran and ambassadors from the main capitals involved in the current crisis in Iran.
The ministry reiterated its recommendation that Italian citizens should leave Iran if they are able to do so, a statement said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard blames US and Israel for protests
Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, threatened Wednesday that the country would give a “decisive response” to the death of Iranian “martyrs and security protectors,” according to Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Pakpour reiterated Iranian officials’ claims that U.S. and Israel have instigated these protests and that they are the “main killers” of the hundreds of casualties. He added that those countries will “receive the response in the appropriate time.”
(Copyright 2026 WBAP/KLIF Newsroom News. All rights reserved. Contains material from the Associated Press.)