Tehran has suspended the death sentence of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old man arrested for participating in anti-government protests in Iran, the New York Times and CNN reported, citing his family and human rights groups. Erfan was sentenced to death in a summary trial that lasted just three days during protests in the city of Karaj on January 8.
Neither his family members nor his lawyer sister were allowed to be present during the trial.
His execution was scheduled for January 14, but was postponed at the last minute. According to human rights organizations, thousands of people have been arrested and hundreds to thousands have been killed in the ongoing protests in Iran.
US President Donald Trump, who had threatened tough action over the killing of protesters, expressed relief at the news of the moratorium on the death penalty. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi claimed that the government had no plans to execute protesters and called the reports about it “fake propaganda”.