Iran Responds to Trump Executions Claim as US Sends Warships to Middle East

By Shane Croucher

Iran's top prosecutor rejected President Donald Trump's claim that his intervention had halted Tehran's imminent plans to execute 837 protesters, calling it "completely false."

It comes as the U.S. is sending military assets to the Middle East, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships, in what Trump described as an "armada" that could strike Iran over its deadly crackdown on protests.

"This claim is completely false; no such number exists, nor has the judiciary made any such decision," Mohammad Movahedi said, according to Mizan, the news agency of Iran's judiciary.

Trump warned the regime in Tehran during the recent mass demonstrations that he would attack if they killed protesters, as the country's clerical leadership faced the biggest test of its grip on power since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

He told protesters that "help is on its way" as he weighed launching strikes. But Trump later said Iran had stopped the killings and canceled plans to rush through executions of detained protesters following his demands.

More than 5,000 people died during the unrest, mostly protesters killed by the Iranian regime's security forces, according to the latest figures from the Human Rights Activists News Agency—a toll likely to rise. It put the number of arrests at 26,852 so far.

Iran’s government offered its first death toll Wednesday, saying 3,117 people had died. It added that 2,427 killed in the demonstrations that began December 28 over the dire state of the economy were civilians and security forces, with the rest being "terrorists." In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

Trump said Thursday aboard Air Force One that the U.S. is moving ships toward Iran "just in case" he wants to take action.

"We're watching Iran. You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case. We have a big flotilla going inthat direction. And we'll see what happens," Trump said, adding that "I'd rather not see anything happen, butwe're watching them very closely" and calling the vessels "an armada."

"I stopped 837 hangings on Thursday," Trump continued. "They would have been dead. Every one of them would have been hung. This is like from a thousand years ago. This is an ancient culture. Very smart people, by the way. But it's an ancient culture."

Analysts say a military buildup could give Trump the option to carry out strikes, though so far he's avoided taking such action despite repeated warnings to Tehran. It would also enable the U.S. to better protect its assets in the region, such as its key Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, from Iranian retaliation.

"While President Trump now appears to have backtracked, likely under pressure from regional leaders and cognizant that airstrikes alone would be insufficient to implode the regime, military assets continue to be moved into the region, indicating kinetic action may still happen," New York-based think tank Soufan Center said in an analysis Friday.

This article uses reporting by The Associated Press.