Trump thanks Iran for halting planned executions of political prisoners.
Trump appeared to suggest that chances of US military action were diminishing after Iran paused the planned executions.
President Donald Trump on Friday made an unusual public gesture toward Iran, thanking its government for halting what he said were planned executions of hundreds of political prisoners, a move that appeared to signal a softening in his previously confrontational stance toward Tehran.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, Trump said Iranian authorities had stepped back from carrying out mass executions amid unrest in the country.
Trump echoed that message shortly afterward on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing simply: “Thank you!”
The president’s remarks followed days of heightened rhetoric in which he suggested the United States could consider military action if Iran went ahead with mass executions during nationwide protests. Those demonstrations, sparked by political grievances and economic hardship, have shaken the country in recent weeks, though they have since largely subsided. Activists say the death toll linked to the unrest continues to rise, even as street protests have quieted.
Trump’s comments on Friday suggested a shift in tone. While he did not rule anything out, he appeared to indicate that the immediate prospect of US military action was fading now that Iran had not carried out the executions he referenced. His praise for Tehran stood in contrast to his earlier warnings, which had raised concerns about the possibility of a sudden escalation between the two longtime adversaries.
“The president’s rosy assessment doesn’t fully capture the complicated and fluid situation inside Iran,” one observer noted, but Trump’s words nevertheless appeared to mark a step back from earlier suggestions that a US strike could be imminent.
Earlier this week, Trump had posted a dramatic message aimed at Iranian protesters, writing, “Help is on the way.” When asked on Friday whether that pledge still stood, he offered a more cautious response. “Well, we’re going to see,” he said, leaving his next steps deliberately vague.
Pressed on whether foreign leaders, particularly Arab or Israeli officials, had urged him to pull back from potential military action, Trump denied outside influence. “Nobody convinced me,” he said. “I convinced myself.”
He again pointed to the alleged halt in executions as a decisive factor. “You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone,” Trump said. “They cancelled the hangings. That had a big impact.”
The comments underscored Trump’s tendency to frame foreign policy decisions as personal judgments shaped by real-time developments, rather than by long diplomatic processes. His praise for Iran was striking given the deep hostility that has defined relations between Washington and Tehran for decades.
Meanwhile, voices opposed to the Iranian government expressed concern that the US might now step back too far. Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged Washington to maintain pressure, calling Trump “a man of his word” and encouraging him not to abandon earlier signals of support for protesters.
The situation leaves US policy toward Iran in a moment of uncertainty. While Trump’s comments suggested reduced momentum toward military action, they also reflected how quickly his tone can change. For now, his public thanks to Tehran appear to have lowered the temperature, even as questions remain about conditions inside Iran and the true scale of the executions that were reportedly planned.
As the protests fade from the headlines and diplomatic signals shift, both allies and critics will be watching closely to see whether Trump’s latest words mark a lasting change in approach or simply a pause in a volatile standoff.