No Plan to Hang Protesters, Iranian Foreign Minister Says

Trump earlier said that executions by the regime won’t take place.

Protesters rally in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 8, 2026. Getty Images

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Jan. 14 that there is no plan for the regime to hang people, when asked about the protests across the Islamic Republic.

When asked directly about potential executions during an interview on Fox News, Araghchi said hanging is out of the question.

“I can tell you, I am confident about that. There is no plan for hanging at all,” he said. “This is another piece of the misinformation campaign ... to provoke President Trump and drag him into this question that could have disastrous consequences.”

U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that 2,063 people were executed in the country in 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Jan. 14 that executions by the regime in Tehran were expected to be canceled.

“We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping,” Trump said at a press conference. “It’s stopping, and there’s no plan for executions or an execution.”

When asked to clarify the source of the comment, Trump referenced conversations with “some very important people on the other side,” but didn’t elaborate further.

“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said. “There was supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place.”

He indicated that there was still some doubt about whether the Iranian regime would follow through.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks during the 59th session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva on June 20, 2025. Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP

“We’re going to find out … but we’ve been told on good authority, and I hope it’s true,” Trump said. “Who knows? ... But they told me that there’ll be no executions, and so I hope that’s true.”

Trump and Araghchi’s comments followed remarks from the head of Iran’s judiciary on Jan. 14, who said there would be fast trials for those suspected of serious crimes during the nationwide protests sweeping the country, followed by swift punishment for those found guilty.

“If a person burned someone, beheaded someone, and set them on fire, then we must do our work quickly,” Iranian Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said in comments reported by The Times of Israel, citing news agency AFP.

HRANA says the death toll of the protests has already soared into the thousands.

“Regarding human casualties, the total number of confirmed deaths has been announced as 2,615. Of these, 2,435 were protesters, and the deaths of 13 children under the age of 18 have been confirmed,” HRANA said on Jan. 14.

“Additionally, 14 non-protesting civilians are recorded among the fatalities. On the other side, 153 members of security forces and government supporters have lost their lives. Furthermore, 882 additional deaths remain under investigation.”

Reza Pahlavi, Iranian opposition leader and son of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, holds a press conference in Paris on June 23, 2025. Joel Saget/AFP via Getty Images

In a separate interview with Fox News on Jan. 14, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said the death toll in Iran is far higher.

When asked what the figure is, Pahlavi said “12,000 plus” had been killed during the unrest.

“We are talking about using military weapons, AK-47s, armored trucks, to shoot to kill unarmed protesters,” he said. “Their bodies are being picked up by bulldozers, and they charge each family for the bullet to be able to retrieve the remains.”

When the banished royal’s statements were put to Araghchi, he dismissed them as baseless, saying the deaths numbered only in the hundreds, and that official figures on the death toll would be released by the regime soon.

HRANA’s figures show the current round of protests to be the most deadly since the deposition of Pahlavi’s father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah, during the 1979 Iranian revolution.

The Epoch Times is unable to independently verify the figures.

Joseph Lord and Reuters contributed to this report.