Despite Trump’s warning, Iranian trader Erfan Soltani is among many who could be hanged

Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old Iranian, was to be executed on Wednesday, accused by the government of the Islamic Republic of participating in the protests that spread throughout the country for two weeks, according to a human rights group in contact with his family.

Hengaw, an organization that monitors unrest in Iran and has spoken to his family, told News themezone on Wednesday that he could not confirm whether Soltani had already been executed. Uncertainty over its fate came as Iran appeared to ignore a new President Trump warns of ‘strong action’ in response to reports that the regime hanged people detained during protests.

The Iranian government “said that he was arrested because of the protest, but we don’t know if he actually participated in the protest, because there is absolutely no information or evidence about it,” Hengaw’s representative, Awyar Shekhi, told News themezone on Tuesday.

Soltani is a clothing salesman whose family lives near Iran’s capital, Tehran, according to Shekhi, who added that “his family has said he was not a political activist, but a government dissident.”

A continuing internet blackout has made it difficult for journalists and human rights groups to monitor the protests in Iran or the brutal government crackdown on them, which sources inside the country say may have resulted in the deaths of as many as 12,000 people, and potentially many more. More than 2,600 people were detained amid the unrest that began on December 28, according to human rights groups.

There are now fears that many of those detained could be executed, despite President Trump’s warning on Tuesday to the Iranian regime that if it hangs protesters, the United States will “take very strong action.”

Soltani was arrested on Jan. 9, Shekhi told News themezone, adding that he had been “deprived of all his basic rights to contact his family and to have an attorney.”

Four days later, “the family received information that their son had received [a death] sentence, and without stating what the charges were [or] when the trial took place.”

Soltani’s family was not told how his planned execution would be carried out, but the most common method in Iran is hanging, Hengaw told News themezone.

Soltani’s sister is a lawyer and has been using all legal avenues available to defend her brother, “but the authorities have told her [her] “There is no case to review and we will not allow it,” Shekhi said.

The activist told News themezone that the family was informed that they would be allowed to have a final meeting with Soltani, a procedure normally reserved for families of those executed. Hengaw said he had no confirmation that the meeting had taken place, but a source close to the family told the group that some of Soltani’s relatives had headed to the sprawling Ghezel Hesar prison near Tehran on Tuesday night. Did not receive any further updates.

“If we want to do a job, we have to do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” the head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, said Wednesday in a video broadcast on state television, of a discussion he had with other judicial officials over the handling of the cases of detained protesters. “If it’s delayed, two or three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly.”

Trump told News themezone’ Tony Dokoupil on Tuesday that the United States would act if the Iranian regime begins hanging protesters.

Asked to clarify what that action might be, Trump said: “Well, let’s define it in Venezuela. Let’s define it with [ISIS leader] al-Baghdadi. It was wiped out. Let’s define it with [Iranian military commander] Soleimani. And let’s set it to Iran, where they eliminated their nuclear threat in a period of about 15 minutes once the B-2s got there. And it turns out that that was a complete destruction, which is what I said initially. Then some questioned itand they said, ‘You know, Trump was right.’ So we have been right about everything. We do not want what is happening in Iran to happen. And, you know, if they want to have protests, that’s one thing. When they start killing thousands of people and now you tell me about hanging, we’ll see how it works for them. “It’s not going to turn out well.”