Iran protest movement subsides as White House says ‘all options’ on table for Trump

PARIS: Protests in Iran have subsided a week after the start of the largest demonstrations in years, challenging the country's theocratic system, whereas Washington on Thursday said that "all options remain on the table for the president."

Protests sparked by economic grievances started with a shutdown in the Tehran bazaar on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.

People started pouring into the streets in big cities on January 8, but authorities immediately enforced a shutdown of the internet that has lasted over a week.

Trump, who backed and joined Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June, had not ruled out new military action against Tehran and made clear he was keeping a close eye on if any protesters were executed.

But a senior Saudi official told AFP on Thursday that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Oman led "a long, frantic, diplomatic last-minute effort to convince President Trump to give Iran a chance to show good intention."

While Washington appeared to have stepped back, the White House said Thursday that "all options remain on the table for the president."

Attention had focused on the fate of Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old protestor who rights activists and Washington said was set to be executed as early as Wednesday.

The Iranian judiciary confirmed Soltani was under arrest but said he had not been sentenced to death and his charges meant he did not risk capital punishment.

Security officials cited by the Tasnim news agency on Friday said around 3,000 people were arrested. Rights groups have estimated that up to 20,000 people have been arrested. 

Separately, the US Treasury on Thursday announced new sanctions targeting Iranian officials, including Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme Council for National Security.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, held telephone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in what the Kremlin described as "efforts to facilitate de-escalation."

At the UN Security Council in New York, Iran's representative, Gholamhossein Darzi, accused Washington of "exploitation of peaceful protests for geopolitical purposes."