US President Donald Trump on Friday indicated that Iran’s alleged decision to cancel the planned execution of 800 protesters had convinced him not to attack the Islamic Republic.

Trump was asked by reporters outside the White House if Arab and Israeli officials had 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 responded.

That appeared to be the closest Trump has come to saying that he had called off a strike against Iran in response to the regime’s deadly crackdown on protesters.

Trump earlier thanked Iran’s leadership for apparently calling off the executions.

“I greatly respect the fact that all scheduled hangings, which were to take place yesterday (over 800 of them), have been cancelled by the leadership of Iran. Thank you!” he wrote on his Truth Social network.

Harsh repression that has left several thousand people dead appears to have succeeded in stifling demonstrations that began on December 28 over Iran’s ailing economy and morphed into protests directly challenging the country’s theocracy.

Earlier in the month, Trump had pledged to........

© The Times of Israel