US President Donald Trump said that the executions of protesters in Iran must be “immediately stopped“, describing the situation as “a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions“, quoted by Agence France-Presse, writes BTA.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, which is in complete chaos, is failing to pay the salaries of a large part of its military personnel, while simultaneously killing protesters – "even when they are not protesting," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
“This is a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions that must be stopped immediately,“ he added.
Trump did not specify whether he was referring to a specific execution, but the number of executions in Iran has increased since the start of the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28.
On Sunday, the Iranian judiciary announced the execution of a man convicted of carrying out “operational actions“ in support of Israel and the United States during the protests in January.
The protest movement, which began in late December over rising living costs, quickly grew into mass anti-government demonstrations that reached their peak on January 8 and 9.
At that time, Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 casualties, blaming the violence on "terrorist acts" organized by the United States and Israel. However, human rights groups based outside Iran claim that security forces fired on protesters, AFP notes.
At least 1,639 people have been executed in Iran - a record number since 1989, according to the Norway-based NGO “Iran Human Rights“ and the Paris-based organization “Together Against the Death Penalty“ (ECPM).
In mid-August, about 30 countries, including France, Britain and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning the executions.
The United States, where the death penalty still exists, did not sign the statement.