From the Liveblog of
Friday, January 16, 2026
Trump indicates Iran’s alleged decision to cancel executions convinced him not to strike
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump indicates Iran’s alleged decision to cancel the planned execution of 800 protesters is what convinced him not to attack Iran.
Trump is asked by reporters outside the White House if Arab and Israeli officials convinced him not to strike Iran, as has been reported.
“Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself. You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn’t hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact,” Trump responds.
This appears to be the closest Trump has come to suggesting that he called off a strike against Iran over the regime’s crackdown on protesters.
Earlier in the month, he had pledged to strike Iran if it killed protesters, which it has reportedly done to the tune of several thousand.
But on Wednesday, Trump announced that he had been informed by Iran that the killing of protesters had stopped and on Thursday, the White House claimed that 800 executions planned for Wednesday had been called off.
It’s unclear whether Trump misspoke just now when he said the executions had been planned for Thursday, and not Wednesday as press secretary Karoline Leavitt said yesterday.
Iran had not publicized plans to execute 800 protesters.
The Times of Israel Community.