US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that the United States would respond forcefully if Iranian authorities begin carrying out hangings as part of their crackdown on a widespread uprising against the government.“We will take very strong action if they do such a thing,” Trump told CBS News in an interview, when asked about the possibility of hangings starting as early as Wednesday.
“When they start killing thousands of people — and now you’re telling me about hanging. We’ll see how that’s going to work out for them,” he said in a video clip from the interview released online.The interview was conducted while Trump was in the northern US state of Michigan, where he visited a manufacturing plant and delivered a speech focused on the economy.During that speech, Trump reiterated a message he had earlier posted on social media, saying that “help is on its way” for Iranian protesters. He also said the true scale of the death toll in Iran remained unclear. “I hear numbers — look, one death is too much — but I hear much lower numbers, and then I hear much higher numbers,” he said.Later, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington, Trump said he was due to receive a briefing on the situation in Iran. “The killing looks like it’s significant, but we don’t know yet for certain. I’ll know within 20 minutes — and we’ll act accordingly,” he said.Trump has previously said the United States would step in if protesters were killed, a threshold that rights groups say has already been crossed.At least 734 people have been confirmed killed, although the actual toll is likely far higher, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), as reported by AP.Concerns have intensified that the Islamic republic could turn to executions to suppress the protests after Tehran prosecutors said capital charges of “moharebeh,” or “waging war against God,” would be sought against some detainees arrested during recent demonstrations.“Concerns are mounting that authorities will once again resort to swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush and deter dissent,” Amnesty International said.IHR highlighted the case of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, who was arrested last week in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran. According to a family source cited by the group, Soltani has already been sentenced to death and could be executed as early as Wednesday.
