Iran denies women protesters facing execution after Trump seeks release

Iran’s judiciary denies that eight women arrested over protests that shook the Islamic Republic this year are at risk of execution, after US President Donald Trump urged Tehran to release them to help negotiations.

Rights groups have said at least one woman arrested over the January protests has been sentenced to death, while at least one more is facing charges that carry the death penalty and could see her executed.

“Trump was misled once again by fake news,” the judiciary’s official Mizan Online website says. “The women who were claimed to be on the verge of execution, some of them have been released, while others face charges that, if convictions are upheld, would at most result in imprisonment.”

Trump had earlier said on social media that the women’s release could work in Iran’s favor in negotiations, re-posting an activist’s claim that eight women were facing death by hanging. That claim did not give names but included photographs of the women.

“I would greatly appreciate the release of these women,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

US-based Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad posted the names of all eight women on her X account. They had all been arrested in connection with the January protests, which activists say were put down in a crackdown that left thousands dead.

“Say their names,” Alinejad said, alleging that one of those held was as young as 16.