Iran Defies Trump’s Threat, Vows to Fast-Track Trials for Arrested Protesters

Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed to fast-track the “trial and punishment” of detainees alleged to have taken part in the protests spanning all of the country’s 31 provinces. In comments broadcast via state television, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, during a visit to prison in Tehran, said that the authorities must “work quickly.” According to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-linked Fars news agency’s Telegram, Mohseni-Ejei also expressed a desire for the trials to be held “in public.”

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, reportedly doubled down on the push for quicker trials on Wednesday, urging prosecutors to “decisively go after these people.”

The comments from Iranian officials come amid mounting concern over possible executions that could be carried out on those arrested. The Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) on Wednesday reported the detention of 18,434 individuals, citing that “97 cases of forced confessions have been broadcast.” 

Meanwhile, the rising death toll is also sparking outrage across the world amid the Iranian authorities’ brutal crackdown on the protests. According to the HRANA, “the deaths of 2,403 protesters have been confirmed.” However, an informal, expatriate group of academics and professionals told TIME on Sunday that, per their calculations, protester deaths could have reached 6,000 through Saturday. 

TIME has been unable to independently verify these figures.

The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights warned on Monday that Erfan Soltani, a resident of Fardis who was accused of taking part in the protests and arrested, is set to be executed on Wednesday. “A source close to the Soltani family told Hengaw that authorities informed them the death sentence is final and will be carried out on Wednesday,” the group reported, calling the case a “clear violation of international human rights.”

Amid the internet blackout that the Iranian authorities enforced last Thursday, on-the-ground reports remain somewhat limited, but the glimpses the world has seen of Iran have prompted mass concern.

Iran’s vow to perform fast trials stands in direct defiance of President Donald Trump’s most recent threat to the regime that has governed the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In a direct warning to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the country’s security forces, Trump said the U.S. will take “very strong action” should Iran start hanging protesters.

When asked what the endgame of such “strong action” would be, Trump told CBS: “The endgame is to win.” After referencing the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela, that resulted in the capture and detainment of fallen President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump also mentioned the U.S. military operation that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the fugitive leader of ISIS, in 2019. In a pointed warning to Iran, Trump then looked back on last year’s conflict that saw the U.S. launch air strikes on three nuclear facilities inside Iran after joining Israel’s mission to strangle Tehran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. “It’s not going to work out good [for Iran],” the President concluded.

Trump has spent the past few days weighing military options following the deterioration of the situation in Iran. The protests, which started on Dec. 28 and were initially in response to the declining economic landscape, have grown exponentially, with demonstrators now calling for an end to the authoritarian regime.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump announced he had canceled “all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops.” He urged Iranian “patriots” to keep protesting and vowed that Iran will “pay a big price” for its actions. “Help is on its way. MIGA [Make Iran Great Again],” he wrote.

Trump has yet to specify exactly what such help from the U.S. would look like, but he later remarked that the assistance may, in part, be economical.

The President previously announced on Monday that “any country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran” will be subject to a 25% tariff “on any and all business being done with the United States of America.”