Iranian \u200dForeign \u200dMinister Abbas Araghchi has denied that Tehran plans to execute antigovernment protestors, after United States President Donald Trump said he had received assurances that killings of demonstrators in Iran had stopped.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Araghchi said \u201cthere is no plan for hanging at all\u201d when asked whether there were plans to execute protesters.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
\u201cHanging is \u200cout of the \u200cquestion,\u201d he \u2060said.<\/p>\n
Araghchi\u2019s remarks came after Trump earlier told reporters that he had been assured that killings of protesters in Iran had stopped and that planned executions were halted.<\/p>\n
Speaking hours after the US began to withdraw some personnel from an airbase in Qatar amid growing fears of a renewed US-Iran conflict, Trump said he had spoken to \u201cvery important sources on the other side\u201d, and he would watch how the crisis developed, although he did not rule out potential US military action.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to watch what the process is\u201d, he said, before noting the US administration received a \u201cvery good statement\u201d from Iran.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera\u2019s Mike Hanna said that the president\u2019s comments on Wednesday signalled a softening of his tone towards Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does appear that he\u2019s still mulling over various options; he\u2019s been briefed by his national security council, but these statements we\u2019ve just heard do indicate a potential cooling down of the situation and President Trump backing away from the precipice of imminent action, which he has been threatening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, told Al Jazeera that Trump\u2019s claim that he had received information indicating killings in Iran had stopped appears, on the surface, to be a \u201cface-saving way\u201d to avoid military intervention, though it does not entirely rule out such a conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to take what Trump says seriously, but we do know that he\u2019s had an aversion to getting sucked into big, open-ended military conflicts, and with Iran, that risk was on the table,\u201d Toossi told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis remark today suggests he\u2019s looking for a face-saving way out, but I wouldn\u2019t take it as 100 percent ruling that out,\u201d he said, adding that Trump has a track record of negotiating with Iran while simultaneously threatening military action.<\/p>\n
Trump has threatened Iran with military strikes in the past as a means of pressuring Tehran into greater alignment with US demands, and has said during the last week that a harsh response by Iranian authorities to the country\u2019s protesters could result in US attacks.<\/p>\n
Barbara Slavin, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, told Al Jazeera that Trump is \u201cprobably torn\u201d when it comes to deciding what action to take against Iran.<\/p>\n
She said that while the US president would like \u201canother quick victory, I don\u2019t think he wants to be involved in a protracted conflict in the Middle East that goes against all his instincts\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added that she expects Trump to carry out limited strikes that enable him to claim he fulfilled his pledge to \u201chelp\u201d the Iranian people, without triggering \u201ca wider escalation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Wednesday, Britain and the US withdrew some personnel from the airbase in Qatar \u2013 Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts US troops and other international forces \u2013 after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbours it would hit US bases if Washington strikes.<\/p>\n
A number of countries have also issued advisories for protecting their citizens in the region amid fears of a wider regional escalation.<\/p>\n
US media outlet NewsNation on Wednesday reported that the Pentagon had begun moving an aircraft carrier strike group from the South China Sea towards the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The US has not announced any such movement, and Al Jazeera could not independently confirm the report.<\/p>\n
Iran ready to respond<\/p>\n
Iran has said it is prepared to retaliate in the event of any US intervention.<\/p>\n
The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Pakpour, has said that Iran is ready to respond \u201cdecisively\u201d to its foes, Israel and the US, which he accused of being behind the protests sweeping the country.<\/p>\n
IRGC is at \u201cthe height of readiness to respond decisively to the miscalculation of the enemy\u201d, said Pakpour in a written statement quoted by state television.<\/p>\n
Pakpour went on to accuse Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being the \u201cmurderers of the youth of Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n
Araghchi told Fox News that his government was in full control after a deadly crackdown on protests that had spread across the country since January 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter three days of terrorist operation, now there is a calm. We are in full control,\u201d Araghchi said.<\/p>\n
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tohid Asadi said that people in the city and across the country are anxious because they have psychologically felt the shadow of war since the 12-day conflict with the US and Israel in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people feel it, and it is creating anxiety about a possible new round of escalation, which would tangibly impact people\u2019s everyday lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n