US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, but added that he would “watch it and see” about threatened military action.

Trump had repeatedly talked in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests.

But in a surprise announcement at the White House, Trump said he had now received assurances from “very important sources on the other side” that Tehran had now stopped, and that executions would not go ahead.

“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place — there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place — and we’re going to find out,” Trump said.

He offered no details and noted that the United States had yet to verify the claims.

Asked by an AFP reporter in the Oval Office if US military action was now off the table, Trump replied: “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said there would be “no hanging today or tomorrow”, in an interview with US network Fox News.

“I can tell you, I’m confident that there is no plan for hanging,” Araghchi said, also accusing Israel of orchestrating violence.

‘Full control’

But Araghchi said the Iranian government was “in full control” and reported an atmosphere of “calm” after what he called three days of “terrorist operation”.

Iran also struck a defiant tone about responding to any US attack, as Washington appeared to draw down staff at a base in Qatar that Tehran targeted in a strike last year.

Iran targeted the Al Udeid base in June in retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Trump that the strike showed “Iran’s will and capability to respond to any attack”. Fears of possible US military action continued to rile the region.

The British government said its embassy in Tehran had been “temporarily closed”, while the US embassy in Saudi Arabia urged staff to exercise caution and avoid military installations.

Trump has threatened to intervene militarily in Iran several times since the protest movement that has shaken the country began in late December.

Iran’s judiciary chief vowed fast-track trials for those arrested, stoking fears authorities will use capital punishment as a tool of repression.

In Tehran, authorities held a funeral for more than 100 security personnel and other “martyrs” killed in the unrest, which officials have branded “acts of terror”.

Iran reopens airspace

Iran reopened its airspace after a near-five-hour closure amid concerns about possible military action between the US and Iran that forced airlines to cancel, reroute or delay some flights.

Iran closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 22:15 GMT (3:15am PKT) on Wednesday, according to a notice on the US Federal Aviation Administration website.

The notice was removed shortly before 03:00 GMT (8am PKT), according to tracking service Flightradar24, which showed five flights from Iranian carriers Mahan Air, Yazd Airways and AVA Airlines were among the first to resume over the country.

At a similar time last week to the airspace closure there had been dozens of planes in the air over Iran, Flightradar24 said.

The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.

Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic.

Indian airlines among those affected

India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. Air India said its flights were using alternative routes that could result in delays or cancellations.

A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to Flightradar24 data.

Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.

The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries.

Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week.

“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organisation that shares flight risk information.

“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defence, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”

A Ukraine International Airlines jet was downed by Iran’s military in 2020, killing all 176 passengers and crew.

Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until

Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight. Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement.

Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.

‘Unprecedented level of brutality’

G7 nations said Wednesday they were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and warned of further sanctions if the crackdown continued.

Monitor NetBlocks said Iran’s internet blackout had lasted 156 hours.

Amnesty International accused authorities of committing mass unlawful killings “on an unprecedented scale,” citing verified videos and eyewitness accounts.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said authorities were using “an unprecedented level of brutality to suppress protests,” noting reports of protest activity had sharply declined.

A senior Iranian official told journalists there had been no new “riots” since Monday, distinguishing them from earlier cost-of-living protests. “Every society can expect protests, but we will not tolerate violence,” he said.

Prosecutors have said some detainees will face capital charges of “waging war against God”. State media reported hundreds of arrests and the detention of a foreign national for espionage, without giving details.

India tells citizens to leave Iran

India’s foreign ministry has urged its citizens to leave Iran, where rights groups say a crackdown on mass protests has killed and arrested thousands of people.

India’s foreign ministry estimates there are usually around 10,000 citizens in Iran.

“Indian nationals who are currently in Iran (students, pilgrims, business persons and tourists) are advised to leave Iran by available means of transport,” the Indian Embassy in Tehran said, in a post on social media late Wednesday.

AI-created Iran protest videos gain traction

AI-generated videos purportedly depicting protests in Iran have flooded the web, researchers said Wednesday, as social media users push hyper-realistic deepfakes to fill an information void amid the country’s internet restrictions.

US disinformation watchdog NewsGuard said it identified seven AI-generated videos depicting the Iranian protests — created by both pro – and anti-government actors — that have collectively amassed some 3.5 million views across online platforms.

Among them was a video shared on the Elon Musk-owned platform X showing women protesters smashing a vehicle belonging to the Basij, the Iranian paramilitary force deployed to suppress the protests.

One X post featuring the AI clip, shared by what NewsGuard described as anti-regime users, garnered nearly 720,000 views.

Anti-regime X and TikTok users in the United States also posted AI videos depicting Iranian protesters symbolically renaming local streets after President Donald Trump.

One such clip shows a protester changing a street sign to “Trump St” while other demonstrators cheer, with an overlaid caption reading: “Iranian protestors are renaming the streets after Trump.”

Pro-regime social media users also shared AI videos purportedly showing large-scale pro-government counterprotests throughout the Islamic republic.

The AI creations highlight the growing prevalence of what experts call “hallucinated” visual content on social media during major news events, often overshadowing authentic images and videos.

In this case, AI creators were filling an information void caused by the internet blackout imposed by the Iranian regime as it sought to suppress demonstrations, experts said.

“There’s a lot of news – but no way to get it because of the internet blackout,” said NewsGuard analyst Ines Chomnalez.

“Foreign social media users are turning to AI video generators to advance their own narratives about the unfolding chaos.”

The fabricated videos were the latest example of AI tools being deployed to distort fast-developing breaking news.

AI fabrications, often amplified by partisan actors, have fueled alternate realities around recent news events, including the US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and a deadly shooting by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

AFP fact-checkers also uncovered misrepresented images that created misleading narratives about the Iranian protests, the largest since the Islamic Republic was proclaimed in 1979.

One months-old video purportedly showing demonstrations in Iran was actually filmed in Greece in November 2025, while another claiming to depict a protester tearing down an Iranian flag was filmed in Nepal during last year’s protests that toppled the Himalayan nation’s government.