"If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action, Trump told CBS News in an interview broadcast on Tuesday night, hours before the US president was due to be briefed on the scale of casualties inside Iran. There are fears that one of the many thousands of protesters arrested last week, Erfan Soltani, is facing imminent execution after being tried, convicted and sentenced since his arrest on Thursday last week."
"Trump told CBS he was aware a pretty substantial number of people had been killed over the more than two weeks of demonstrations. The number of dead climbed to at least 2,571 early on Wednesday, as reported by the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). That figure, which includes 12 children, dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution."
"More than 18,100 people have been detained, the group said. Iranian state television has offered the first official acknowledgment of the deaths, quoting an official saying the country had a lot of martyrs. On Tuesday evening, the state department warned US citizens to leave Iran immediately, and various western countries issued similar travel warnings."
The United States threatened strong action if Iranian authorities execute anti-government protesters amid reports of large-scale casualties. Reported deaths reached at least 2,571, including 12 children, with more than 18,100 people detained according to HRANA. Amnesty International raised concerns that authorities might use swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush dissent. One arrested protester, Erfan Soltani, reportedly faces imminent execution after trial and sentencing. Norway-based Iran Human Rights reported at least 1,500 executions last year. Iranian state television acknowledged deaths, and the US State Department and several Western governments issued travel warnings.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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