US President Donald Trump said he had been assured that the killings of protesters in Iran had stopped, adding that he would "watch and see" about previously threatened US military action, as tensions appeared to have eased on Wednesday evening.
Trump has repeatedly spoken in recent days about providing assistance to the Iranian people due to the violent suppression of protests, which the Norway-based Iran Human Rights organization has stated have so far claimed at least 3.428 lives, while more than 10.000 people have been arrested.
However, in a surprise statement at the White House, Trump said he had received assurances from "very important sources on the other side" that Tehran had stopped using deadly force against protesters and that no executions would occur.
"They said the killings have stopped and the executions will not happen - there were supposed to be a lot of executions today, but they will not be carried out - and we will check on that," Trump said.
He did not provide further details and stressed that the United States had not yet confirmed the allegations.
Asked if US military action was now ruled out, Trump replied: "We'll watch and see what the process is."
In an unexpected development, Iranian state media announced on Thursday morning that Erfan Soltani, who was said to be facing imminent execution, had not been sentenced to death after all, Reuters reported.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Fox News that "there is no plan" for executions in retaliation for anti-government protests. "Hanging is out of the question," he said.
The moves to calm tensions followed a series of events that raised fears that military action could be imminent. Iran closed its airspace to almost all flights early this morning, without explanation, while airlines including Lufthansa said they would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace "for the time being."
Some staff at a key US military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate, while the US Embassy in Kuwait ordered its staff to temporarily suspend travel to several military bases in the Gulf state. The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia also urged employees to exercise caution and avoid military facilities.
A senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned regional countries hosting US bases, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, that those bases would be attacked in the event of a US strike. In June, Iran targeted the Al Udeid air base after the US attacked Iranian uranium enrichment facilities, although the strike was pre-announced and largely symbolic.
The United Kingdom has temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran, while Spain, Poland and Italy have urged their citizens to leave Iran.
However, Iranian airspace was reopened a few hours later, and Aragchi further softened his rhetoric in an interview with Fox News, calling on the United States to seek a solution through negotiations.
Asked what he would say to Trump, Aragchi said: "My message is: between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is the better path, even though we do not have positive experiences with the United States. However, diplomacy is much better than war."
Trump's latest statements led to a sharp drop in oil prices of 3%, as concerns about possible disruptions in global supply were eased. Gold and silver prices also fell following the news.
Crude oil prices have risen sharply in recent days as Trump has spoken about possible aid to Iranian protesters.
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday evening, Trump expressed doubt that exiled opposition leader Reza Pahlavi could muster enough support inside Iran to threaten the government.
"He seems very nice, but I don't know how he would do in his own country," Trump said. "And we haven't gotten to that point yet. I don't know if his country would accept his leadership, but if they did, that would be fine with me."
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet this afternoon for a "briefing on the situation in Iran," a spokesman for the Somali presidency said.
The foreign ministers of the G7 countries said they were "ready to introduce additional restrictive measures" against Iran over the authorities' handling of the protests, including "the deliberate use of violence, the killing of protesters, arbitrary arrests and intimidation tactics."
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