New Delhi: President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Iran had agreed not to execute eight women protesters following his intervention, a statement that was swiftly denied by officials in Tehran.
“Very good news,” Trump said in a social media post a day after granting a unilateral ceasefire in the war started by the U.S. and Israel on February 28.
Trump said that four of the women would be released immediately while the remaining four would face one-month prison sentences.
“I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request, as President of the United States, and terminated the planned execution,” Trump said.
However, Iranian authorities rejected the claim, calling it a fabrication.
The U.S. president has been frustrated by Iran’s refusal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for one-fifth of the global oil and gas, despite ceasefire he declared on April 8 and extended on Tuesdsay.
“Trump’s empty-handedness in the battlefield has pushed him towards fabricating achievements from false news,” the Iranian judiciary’s news agency, Mizan, said on Wednesday.
Neither the White House nor the Iranian Foreign Ministry immediately responded to requests for comment on Wednesday.
After an initial social media post by Trump about the women on Tuesday, Mizan said Trump had “fallen for” false claims circulated by anti-Iran groups.
On Wednesday, it reiterated that Tehran had not made any concessions.
“Last night, Donald Trump, citing a completely false news story, called on Iran to overturn the death sentences of eight women,” Mizan said.
“However, despite the false claim being revealed last night, Trump claimed in another post a few minutes ago that the sentences of eight protesting women who were supposed to be executed in Iran tonight have been overturned and thanked Iran!”
The agency said several of the women had already been released, while others facing charges that could lead to imprisonment, but not the death penalty.
(DD News)