No sign of new protests in Iran as a hard-line cleric calls for
executions and threatens Trump
[January 17, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL and FARNOUSH AMIRI
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As Iran returned to uneasy calm after
a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a senior hard-line
cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators
and directly threatened U.S. President Donald Trump — evidence of the
rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.
Trump, though, struck a conciliatory note, thanking Iran's leaders for
not executing hundreds of detained protesters, in a further sign he may
be backing away from a military strike. Executions, as well as the
killing of peaceful protesters, are two of the red lines laid down by
Trump for possible action against Iran.
Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to
have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s
ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the
country’s theocracy.
There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping
and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old
internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest
elsewhere in the country.
“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters in
Washington, adding that "I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”
Trump did not clarify who he spoke to in Iran to confirm the state of
any planned executions.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the
death toll at 3,090. The number, which exceeds that of any other round
of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos
surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise. The agency has been
accurate throughout the years of demonstrations, relying on a network of
activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.
The AP has been unable to independently confirm the toll. Iran’s
government has not provided casualty figures.
Hard-line cleric's fiery sermon
In contrast, the sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami carried by Iranian
state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including:
“Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”
Khatami, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council
long known for his hard-line views, described the protesters as the
“butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s
soldiers.” He said Netanyahu and Trump should await "hard revenge from
the system.”
“Americans and Zionists should not expect peace," the cleric said.
His fiery speech came as allies of Iran and the United States alike
sought to defuse tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Friday
to both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Israel's Netanyahu,
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Russia had previously kept largely quiet about the protests. Moscow has
watched several key allies suffer blows as its resources and focus are
consumed by its 4-year-old war against Ukraine, including the downfall
of Syria’s former President Bashar Assad in 2024, last year’s U.S. and
Israeli attacks on Iran and the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan leader
Nicolas Maduro this month.
Exiled Iranian royal calls for fight to continue
Days after Trump pledged “help is on its way” for the protesters, both
the demonstrations and the prospect of imminent U.S. retaliation
appeared to have receded. One diplomat told The Associated Press that
top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had raised
concerns with Trump that a U.S. military intervention would shake the
global economy and destabilize an already volatile region.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the U.S. to make good on
its pledge to intervene. Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown by Iran's
1979 Islamic Revolution, said he still believes the president's promise
of assistance.
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A woman crosses an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday,
Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
“I believe the president is a man of his word," Pahlavi told
reporters in Washington. He added that "regardless of whether action
is taken or not, we as Iranians have no choice to carry on the
fight.“
“I will return to Iran,” he vowed. Hours later, he urged protesters
to take to the streets again from Saturday to Monday.
Despite support by diehard monarchists in the diaspora, Pahlavi has
struggled to gain wider appeal within Iran. But that has not stopped
him from presenting himself as the transitional leader of Iran if
the government were to fall.
Iran authorities list protest damage
Khatami, the hard-line cleric, also provided the first overall
statistics on damage from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126
prayer halls and 20 other holy places had sustained damage. Another
80 homes of Friday prayer leaders — an important position within
Iran's theocracy — were also damaged, likely underlining the anger
demonstrators felt toward symbols of the government.
He said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 fire department vehicles,
and another 50 emergency vehicles also sustained damage.
Even as protests appeared to have been smothered inside Iran,
thousands of exiled Iranians and their supporters have taken to the
streets in cities across Europe to shout out their rage at the
government of the Islamic Republic.
Amid the continuing internet shutdown, some Iranians crossed borders
to communicate with the outside world. At a border crossing in
Turkey’s eastern province of Van, a trickle of Iranians crossing on
Friday said they were traveling to get around the communications
blackout.
“I will go back to Iran after they open the internet,” said a
traveler who gave only his first name, Mehdi, out of security
concerns.
Also crossing the border were some Turkish citizens escaping the
unrest in Iran.
Mehmet Önder, 47, was in Tehran for his textiles business when the
protests erupted. He said he laid low in his hotel until it was shut
for security reasons, then stayed with one of his customers until he
was able to return to Turkey.
Although he did not venture into the streets, Önder said he heard
heavy gunfire.
“I understand guns, because I served in the military in the
southeast of Turkey,” he said. “The guns they were firing were not
simple weapons. They were machine guns.”
In a sign of the conflict’s potential to spill over borders, a
Kurdish separatist group in Iraq said it has launched attacks on
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in recent days in
retaliation for Tehran’s crackdown on protests.
A representative of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, said its
members have “played a role in the protests through both financial
support and armed operations to defend protesters when needed.” The
group said the attacks were launched by members of its military wing
based inside Iran.
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Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Will
Weissert and Darlene Superville in Washington and Serra Yedikardes
at the Kapikoy Border Crossing, Turkey, contributed.
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