Trump says 'killing has stopped' in Iran after violent protest crackdown
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has said his government has no plans to hang people arrested for taking part in protests. President Trump has threatened to take "very strong action" should Iran begin carrying out executions, but later said he had been told on good authority that the killing of protesters had stopped.
Also in the programme: Nato troops start arriving in Greenland as the Trump administration underlines its ambition to own the island, the BBC uncovers evidence of a split in the upper echelons of the Taliban in Afghanistan; and the writer Julian Barnes will be discussing AI and his last ever novel!
(Photo: President Triump. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.3 | Hello and welcome to NewsAv. |
| 0:11.4 | For the BBC World Service, we're coming to you live from our studios in London. |
| 0:15.4 | I'm James Menendez. |
| 0:17.1 | And we're going to begin once again today in Iran, and more specifically, what President |
| 0:20.5 | Trump intends to do in the wake of the Iranian government's harsh response to the biggest protests against it for years. |
| 0:27.7 | An estimated 2,000 people have been killed by the security forces while out on the streets. |
| 0:33.2 | Nearly 20,000 have been arrested, some facing the threat of execution. |
| 0:38.3 | Well, Mr. Trump promised to take, quote, very strong action against Iran. |
| 0:42.3 | Some U.S. troops were pulled out of their airbase in Qatar in anticipation of military action. |
| 0:47.6 | But then came this from the American president. |
| 0:50.7 | We've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and it's stopped, it's stopping, |
| 0:56.8 | and there's no plan for executions or an execution or executions. |
| 1:02.3 | So I've been told that a good authority. We'll find out about it. I'm sure if happens, |
| 1:08.0 | we'll all be very upset. |
| 1:10.0 | Who told President Trump the killing had stopped his unclear, |
| 1:13.2 | but it does look as if he's been persuaded either by Iran or by its neighbors to pull back from the brink. |
| 1:19.0 | Here's the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbasarachi, speaking on the one TV network, |
| 1:23.8 | Mr. Trump definitely watches Fox News. |
| 1:26.1 | There is no any hanging today or tomorrow or whatever, you know, I can tell you. |
| 1:34.3 | I'm confident about that. There is no plan for hanging at all. |
| 1:38.7 | He also claimed that Calm had descended on the country. |
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