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3. Iran Dismisses Trump’s Claim He Prevented 800 Hangings

Iran's Attorney General said on Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump's allegations that Tehran stopped the execution of 800 detained protesters because of his intervention are "absolutely incorrect.” 

According to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency, Mohammad Mohebi said, “This claim is entirely wrong. There is no such number, and the judiciary has not made any decision like this.”

The statement raises renewed questions about whether mass executions will be carried out in response to the nationwide protests. Officials have already said that some detainees face charges that carry the death penalty.

Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said that killings and executions in Iran had stopped, and that the planned execution of 800 people had not been carried out.

Trump’s Iran plan unclear

The statement comes amid speculation that the U.S. could take action against the Islamic Republic, including targeting the Revolutionary Guards and their affiliated networks. On Thursday, a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group moved closer to the Middle East, a deployment Trump described as an “armada,” with Iran as the focus. Officials said the strike group and other assets would arrive in the region in the coming days.

Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday that, despite the uncertainty, the Israeli army has completed most of its preparations in recent days for a possible imminent U.S. attack on Iran. The Israeli Air Force, Home Front Command, intelligence units, and other military systems have reached a high state of readiness.

According to the newspaper, Israeli assessments suggest that Trump is seeking to launch a heavy airstrike against Iran, hoping it will trigger a chain of events that leads to the collapse of the Iranian regime. The paper said it is possible that Trump has shared more details about his plans with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their discussions. However, it added that it is unclear whether Trump believes he can succeed in overthrowing the Iranian regime, even though that goal would be difficult to achieve through a short air campaign.

The report stated that Israel could support U.S. air and cyber operations as well as “influence operations” aimed at undermining the morale of the Iranian regime. These could include assassinations, as Trump has threatened to kill Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and target Basij and Revolutionary Guard bases. The paper said Israel does not hide its desire to return to targeting ballistic missile production lines.

Death toll rises

The latest death toll by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that 4,716 of the dead were demonstrators, 203 were government-affiliated, 43 were children and 40 were civilians not taking part in the protests. It added that more than 26,800 people had been detained in a widening arrest campaign by authorities.

Iran’s government announced its first death toll Wednesday, saying 3,117 people were killed. It added that 2,427 of the dead in the demonstrations were civilians and security forces, with the rest being “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

Iran shows off drones 

Iran marked “Day of the Guardian” on Friday, an annual observance honoring its paramilitary Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which played a central role in suppressing the nationwide protests.

To mark the occasion, state television aired a religious talk show on Thursday night that instead featured the program’s cleric and prayer singers inspecting Iranian military drones. The broadcast showed the engines of several Shahed drones being started; one variant of the model has been used extensively by Russia in its war in Ukraine.

A man identified as a member of Iran’s security forces, who wore a surgical mask and sunglasses to conceal his identity, also delivered a threat directed at Israel in broken Hebrew, saying: “We are closer to you than you think.”