Iran’s nationwide protests appear smothered, with fate of potential US action unclear

The nationwide protests challenging Iran’s theocracy appeared to be smothered Thursday, a week after the regime shut the country off from the world and escalated a bloody crackdown that activists say killed thousands. In Tehran, witnesses say recent mornings saw no new signs of bonfires lit the night before or debris in the streets. The sound of gunfire, which had been intense for several nights, has faded.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media announced wave after wave of arrests by authorities, targeting those it calls “terrorists” and also apparently looking for Starlink satellite internet dishes, the only way to get videos and images out to the internet. “Since January 8, we saw a full-fledged war and anybody who was in the gathering since then is a criminal,” said Justice Minister Amin Hossein Rahimi, according to a report Wednesday from the judiciary’s Mizan news agency.

But there are multiple indications that the threat of mass executions after the protests is receding. Iranian state media on Thursday reported that Essam Soltani, 26, a man who was due to be executed, would not be given the death sentence. US President Donald Trump said he had been told that killings in the regime’s crackdown were subsiding.  (Read More)