Iran protester released from prison after public execution threat
A shopkeeper who was on the brink of being executed in Iran for his role in the anti-regime protests has been released on bail.
Erfan Soltani, 26, faced the death penalty after being detained during mass protests in January.
Iranian authorities appeared to make a U-turn after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike the country if they executed prisoners.
Human rights organisation Hengaw reports that Soltani was released on bail on Saturday.
Soltani was feared to have become the first person executed over his participation in the protests which rocked Iran and left hundreds of innocent civilians dead.
Relatives said he was issued a death sentence within two days after being arrested on Thursday 8 January in his town of Fardis, on the outskirts of Tehran.
A family source said: ‘Erfan had received threatening messages from security sources prior to his arrest, but he remained committed to the protests.
‘He told his family he was being watched, but he refused to back down.’
Soltani, who works in the clothing industry and had recently got a new job at a private firm, became the centre of rising international tensions after Trump warned Iranian clerics that America would take ‘very strong action’ if protestors were executed.
He added: ‘If they hang them you’re going to see something.’
Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, later insisted there was ‘no plan’ to hang people, while the country’s judiciary labelled foreign reports about his execution plan as ‘fabrication.’
Hengaw, a Norway-based Kurdish human rights group, continued to express ‘serious and ongoing concerns’ regarding his life’.
However, the group now say they’ve received information that he was released on bail yesterday.
Despite the climbdown over prisoner executions, tensions between the US and Iran have continued to escalate.
Trump has warned that a ‘large armada or flotilla’ is heading to Iran ‘right now’ in his latest warning to the regime.
He said during a Friday evening protest: ‘Ultimately, we’ll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that’s good, and if don’t make a deal, we’ll see what happens.’
Trump was reportedly considering various options on Friday, including targeted strikes on military facilities.
The relationship between the US and Iran is at rock bottom after weeks of protests and a mounting death toll in the nation following the protests.
People had taken to the streets after a huge increase in inflation led to people not being able to afford basic groceries, such as bread, and the value of their currency plummeting to be effectively worthless.
At least 5,000 people were killed during the unrest, however human rights groups say they are still working to ascertain the status of thousands more protesters.
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