Trump had warned the government in Tehran against executing participants in the recent mass protests and had not ruled out military intervention. On Wednesday, a closure of Iranian airspace sparked speculation about a possible US air strike. However, he stayed away.
Trump said he greatly respected the fact that the executions had been canceled. He gave no indication of what he would do next. The website Axios reported Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Trump to give the country more time to prepare for a possible Iranian retaliation. The New York Times also wrote that Netanyahu had asked for a US attack to be postponed.
According to media reports, foreign militias were also involved in the violent suppression of the mass protests in Iran. Movements of Shiite militias from Lebanon have been observed leaving the country over the past 10 days, a security source said. The men officially traveled on pilgrimages to Iraq, where there are central shrines of Shiite Islam.
On Thursday, the US broadcaster CNN, citing a source in Iraq, reported that almost 5,000 fighters from various militant groups had traveled to their neighboring country in recent weeks to support the Iranian state. According to CNN, a European military source spoke of a good 800 Shiites.
The Federal Republic and other countries have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to convene an emergency meeting in view of the situation in Iran. In view of the “alarming violence” and the “deteriorating human rights situation” in Iran, a special session of the UN body is necessary, said the federal government, Great Britain, Iceland, the Republic of Moldova and North Macedonia in a joint letter to the President of the Human Rights Council, which was available to the AFP news agency on Friday.
The UN body should consult due to the “harsh crackdown on demonstrators and violations of international human rights laws across the country,” the letter continued. For the application to be accepted, at least a third of the 47 council members must agree. The AFP news agency learned from informed circles that there is already broad support for a special session among the members of the Human Rights Council. The UN Security Council met in New York on Thursday evening to discuss the situation in Iran.
