TORONTO (AP) — Kyle Isbel hit an RBI double in the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4 on Sunday.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tying single with two out in the eighth, and Kansas City scored five in the 10th while taking two of three from the AL East-leading Blue Jays.
The Royals are 24-12 in series finales, winning their past nine.
Hunter Harvey (1-0) pitched one inning for the win as Kansas City returned to .500 at 56-56.
Nathan Lukes and Addison Barger cut into Kansas City’s lead with RBI singles in the bottom of the 10th, but Toronto (65-48) lost a home series for the first time since losing two of three to the White Sox from June 20-22.
Isbel drove in the winning run with a double down the line against Seranthony Domínguez (2-4).
Jonathan India walked and Bobby Witt Jr. was hit by a pitch before Tyler Tolbert added a two-run single.
Witt scored on a throwing error by catcher Alejandro Kirk, and Maikel Garcia capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.
Blue Jays outfielder Joey Loperfido had two hits, including an RBI single in the fifth.
GIANTS 12, METS 4
NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Devers snapped out of a slump with a homer and four RBIs in San Francisco's victory over New York.
Rookie Carson Whisenhunt (1-0) threw 5 1/3 innings for his first win in the majors to help the Giants take two of three from the Mets following a six-game losing streak.
New York dropped a half-game behind Philadelphia for the NL East lead. The Mets have lost five of six.
Making his second career start, Whisenhunt allowed two runs — one earned — on three hits, including Francisco Lindor’s first-inning homer.
Devers’ three-run homer capped a four-run third against Frankie Montas (3-2). The 403-foot blast to right was just the fifth homer for Devers since he was acquired from Boston on June 15. Devers closed out a three-run fourth with a run-scoring single.
The Giants piled on in the ninth. Dominic Smith had a two-run single, and Casey Schmitt hit a three-run homer off Ryne Stanek. Backup catcher Luis Torrens got the final out.
RED SOX 6, ASTROS 1
BOSTON (AP) — Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela had consecutive RBI singles in a six-run fourth inning filled with five Houston mistakes, Lucas Giolito pitched a season-high eight stellar innings, and Boston beat the Astros to complete a series sweep.
Connor Wong added a sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu was credited with a sacrifice on a safety squeeze for an RBI during the inning, sending Boston to its third straight win over the AL West leaders and fifth in a row overall.
Giolito (8-2) gave up the run on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk, eclipsing his previous season-high innings of 7 2/3 on July 4.
Carlos Correa, acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, hit a homer for Houston, which has lost eight of 10.
The game’s first pitch was 11:38 a.m. EDT, the third time this season the Red Sox began a game in the morning. The others: their annual Patriots’ Day game when they beat the White Sox and the Independence Day victory at the Nationals.
Framber Valdez (11-5) gave up six runs, four earned, over six innings, ending his personal 10-game winning streak. He entered 10-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his previous 14 starts.
DODGERS 3, RAYS 0
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Freddie Freeman scored one run and drove in another to snap Los Angeles’ 18-inning scoreless drought and lead the Dodgers over Tampa Bay.
Andy Pages singled off Mason Englert (0-1) in the sixth to drive in Freddie Freeman, who extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a first-inning single and added another RBI single in the seventh to make it 2-0. He had three hits on the day and seven RBIs in the series, which the Dodgers won two games to one.
Shohei Ohtani doubled and scored on Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-7) held the Rays scoreless over 5 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and striking out six. Ben Casparius earned his second big-league save, coming in with the bases loaded in the ninth to get Yandy Diaz out.
Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman left the game in the fifth with a right ankle sprain.
Tampa Bay starter Joe Boyle held the Dodgers scoreless for five innings, working around three hits and two walks. He struck out two.
BRAVES 4, REDS 2
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Eli White hit a three-run homer and a solo shot, helping Atlanta beat Cincinnati in the rain-delayed MLB Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway.
White’s first homer of the afternoon gave Atlanta a 3-1 lead in the second inning at the historic racetrack. The ball hit the safer barrier after clearing the outfield wall and the track itself.
He added his sixth homer of the season on a leadoff shot in the seventh.
Cincinnati went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base. Brent Suter (1-2) got the loss.
Atlanta came in having clinched the season series, winning four of the first six games. The teams split the first two in Cincinnati before coming to Bristol.
The game was scheduled for Saturday, but it was suspended in the first inning because of persistent rain.
Hurston Waldrep (1-0) was on the mound for Atlanta when play resumed. The right-hander was brought up from Triple-A Gwinnett and traveled about 250 miles to Bristol Motor Speedway early Sunday morning. He pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball for his first career win.
TWINS 5, GUARDIANS 4
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Larnach had a two-run single in a four-run first inning and Minnesota beat Cleveland to avoid a three-game sweep.
Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis also drove in runs in the first against Joey Cantillo (2-2), who struck out a season-high nine over 5 2/3 innings. Kody Clemens’ bunt single in the eighth plated DaShawn Keirsey Jr. with an insurance run.
The Guardians trailed 5-2 going into the ninth, but Brayan Rocchio’s pinch-hit single off Michael Tonkin scored Nolan Jones and C.J. Kayfus. Erasmo Ramírez entered and retired Daniel Schneemann and José Ramírez in order to close out the win.
Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak. Kody Funderburk (2-1) tossed two scoreless innings of relief, and Ramírez earned the save in his first big-league appearance since Aug. 30, 2024, with Tampa Bay.
José Ramírez hit a two-run homer in the first and Schneemann had three hits for the second day in a row for Cleveland, which had won four straight. Kayfus doubled for his first hit in the majors, one day after being recalled from Triple-A Columbus.
José Ureña, pitching for his sixth team in three years, started and gave up two runs in four innings for the Twins. Wallner and Clemens had two hits apiece.
MARLINS 7, YANKEES 3
MIAMI (AP) — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and Miami completed the first sweep of New York in franchise history.
The Marlins (55-55) won all three games against the Yankees (60-52) to reach .500 for the first time since April 15. They became the first major league team to go from 16 or more games under .500 to a .500 record since the Rays in 2014.
Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3 1/3 innings into his season debut.
Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.
Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a two-run homer off Josh Simpson that pulled New York within 6-3 in the seventh, as “Let’s go Yankees!” chants erupted at loanDepot Park. Marsee then ripped an RBI triple to center in the bottom half that stretched the lead to four.
Xavier Edwards had two hits, including an RBI single. Troy Johnston had a run-scoring double.
BREWERS 14, NATIONALS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brice Turang hit two two-run homers, and Milwaukee completed its first season sweep of Washington with a win.
Milwaukee set a club record for a three-game series with 56 hits. The Brewers scored 60 runs in their six wins over the Nationals this season.
Christian Yelich went 2 for 3 and walked three times, giving the Brewers the lead for good with an RBI single in the first against rookie Brad Lord (2-6).
Turang hit his seventh homer in the second, a 399-foot shot to right-center. He also went deep against Ryan Loutos in Milwaukee’s seven-run seventh, belting a 396-foot shot to right.
Joey Ortiz had four RBIs as the Brewers upped the majors’ best record to 67-44. Caleb Durbin had two of Milwaukee’s 16 hits.
Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson was called up from Triple-A Nashville to start in place of All-Star rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left shin contusion. Henderson allowed one run and three hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Aaron Ashby (2-1) got five outs for the win.
Drew Millas had two hits and two RBIs for the Nationals in their fifth straight loss.
CUBS 5, ORIOLES 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Turner hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give Chicago a victory over Baltimore.
Leading off the ninth, Dansby Swanson reached on a throwing error on third baseman Jordan Westburg. Manager Craig Counsell then sent Turner to the plate to hit for Michael Busch.
Turner drove the first pitch he saw from Keegan Akin (3-1), a 92.8 mph fastball, deep to left-center for the game-ending shot. It was Turner’s third homer of the season.
Chicago took two of three in the weekend set against Baltimore. The Cubs stayed two games back of NL Central-leading Milwaukee, which won 14-3 at Washington.
PIRATES 9, ROCKIES 5
DENVER (AP) — Spencer Horwitz homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs to lead Pittsburgh to a win over Colorado, avoiding a series sweep.
Horwitz hit a two-run homer in the second inning, added a three-run shot in the sixth and knocked in his sixth run with a ground out in the eighth. The Pirates’ 27-year-old leadoff hitter has five homers and 31 RBIs in 61 games this season.
Nick Gonzales knocked in a run with an infield single in the first inning before Tommy Pham hit a two-run homer, his fifth, for Pittsburgh.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller (5-10) worked five innings and allowed seven hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts.
Mickey Moniak (two RBIs), Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck (two RBIs) hit consecutive homers in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Rockies closed within 8-5.
Colorado starter Bradley Blalock (1-3) allowed seven earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings, with two strikeouts and four walks.
MARINERS 5, RANGERS 4
SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and Seattle beat Texas.
Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.
Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings on Sunday.
The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but only tallied one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, ATHLETICS 4
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Blaze Alexander homered to help Arizona beat the Athletics.
Alek Thomas and Geraldo Perdomo each had three hits as Arizona won the rubber game of the weekend set. Tyler Locklear had two hits and scored two runs.
Eduardo Rodriguez (4-7) pitched five innings of two-run ball in his first win since June 23. The left-hander was 0-3 with a 6.23 ERA in his previous five starts.
Kyle Nelson handled the ninth for his first save of the season. JJ Bleday hit a one-out solo homer for the A’s, but Nelson closed it out when Gio Urshela flied to center and Max Schuemann struck out swinging.
PADRES 7, CARDINALS 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dylan Cease allowed one hit over five innings, Jake Cronenworth and Ramon Laureano homered as San Diego beats St. Louis.
Cease (4-10) struck out nine with a walk as the Padres (62-50) won for the seventh time in eight games and moved three games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (65-47).
Jason Adams, Jeremiah Estrada and David Morgan followed Cease and put the Cardinals down in order in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Robert Suarez worked one inning and earned his 32nd save.
Cronenworth opened the scoring with a two-run homer, his ninth, in the fourth. Laureano added a solo shot, his 16th, in the eighth inning. Jackson Merrill had a three-run triple in the seventh to extend the Padres’ lead to 6-0.
Cardinals starter Andre Pallante (6-8) allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts in five innings. Gordon Graceffo gave up four runs on four hits in two innings before giving way to Roddery Munoz.
The Cardinals got on the board at the top of the ninth on bases-loaded singles by Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker.
ANGELS 8, WHITE SOX 5
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Ward hit a game-ending three-run homer in the ninth inning, Zach Neto had a home run and three RBIs and Los Angeles beat Chicago to avoid a three-game sweep.
In a tie game, Nolan Schanuel doubled with one out in the ninth before Mike Trout was walked intentionally. Ward went deep against left-hander Tyler Alexander (4-10) to set a career high with 26 home runs.
Right-hander Kenley Jansen (4-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for Los Angeles.
Colson Montgomery hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs for the White Sox. They lost for just the third time in their last 12 road games.
The White Sox took a 4-0 lead in the first inning when Robert had an RBI single and Montgomery followed with a three-run home run against Jack Kochanowicz
Chicago made it 5-0 in the third on Montgomery’s RBI single.
The Angels started their rally in the sixth with a leadoff home from Neto. Ward had an RBI single, and Trout scored on a wild pitch. The Angels tied it in the seventh on a two-run double from Neto.
PHILLIES 2, TIGERS 0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristopher Sánchez pitched eight sparkling innings, Kyle Schwarber hit his 38th homer and Philadelphia beat Detroit.
Philadelphia took two of three in the weekend series to move back into first place in the NL East, a half-game better than the New York Mets.
Sánchez (10-3) surrendered five hits, struck out six and walked one. He allowed only one baserunner to reach third.
Jhoan Duran handled the ninth for his second save with the Phillies and No. 18 overall. The hard-throwing closer, who was acquired in a trade with Minnesota on Wednesday, fanned Riley Greene with a 102.5 mph fastball for the final out.
Toronto Blue Jays' Dalton Varsho is caught in a run down by Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Sunday Aug. 3, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
The U.N. Security Council in an emergency meeting Thursday discussed Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in the lead up to the meeting in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,677, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The sound of gunfire faded Thursday in the capital, Tehran, and witnesses said bonfires and street debris were not visible like they had been in past mornings. Video footage of demonstrations also has stopped appearing, likely signaling the protests have slowed under the heavy security presence in major cities.
Here is the latest:
New Zealand has “temporarily” closed its embassy in Tehran, Iran, and moved consular operations to Ankara, Turkey, officials in Wellington said Friday.
All New Zealand diplomatic staff left Iran on commercial flights during the past day, New Zealand’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The move followed remarks Thursday by Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who said his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
The foreign ministry repeated official advice Friday that New Zealanders should avoid travel to Iran and “leave now” if they were already there. They said the ability of New Zealand’s government to provide consular help to the country’s citizens in Iran was “extremely limited.”
France’s U.N. Ambassador Jérôme Bonnafont said that “given the scale and brutality of the repression” against protesters, the international community must denounce the violence.
He reiterated France’s call for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained and suspension of the death penalty and called for the rapid convening of a special session of the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council to address the situation in Iran and investigate rights violations.
Britain’s deputy ambassador Archibald Young condemned Iran’s actions “in the strongest possible terms” and paid tribute “to the courage of the Iranian people, particularly Iranian women.”
The United Kingdom has told Iran’s foreign minister that “Iran must urgently change course” and respect the fundamental rights of Iranians, “including the right to protest without fear of violence or repression.”
If it doesn’t, Young said the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, including the U.K., has made clear that it will impose additional sanctions.
“The world is watching,” he said.
Gholam Hossein Darzi, the deputy Iranian ambassador to the U.N., blasted the U.S. for what it claims is American “direct involvement in steering unrest in Iran to violence.”
“Under the hollow pretext of concern for the Iranian people and claims of support for human rights, the United States is attempting to portray itself as a friend of the Iranian people — while simultaneously laying the groundwork for political destabilization and military intervention under a so-called ‘humanitarian’ narrative,” Darzi said during his statement.
The Iranian official also called out U.S. for what it described as its own human rights abuses against protesters with the recent killing of Renee Good in Minnesota by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Moscow stands in solidary with Iran and backs its view that “hostile external forcers are attempting to exploit the current situation in order to overthrow a government they find objectionable and destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran as a sovereign and independent state.”
Russia called on the U.S. “to stop making themselves out to be a global judge and put an end to their escalatory actions,” he said. Moscow also called on the U.N.’s 193 member nations “to prevent a new large-scale escalation.”
Nebenzia said U.S. actions “risk plunging the region into even bloodier chaos — chaos that could easily spill beyond its borders.”
He said what happened on Iranian streets in recent days went far beyond peaceful protests, pointing to the use of firearms, the killing of civilians and law enforcement officers and arson attacks on medical facilities and public institutions.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States that “The people of Iran are demanding their freedom like never before in the Islamic Republic’s brutal history.”
He said the U.S. message is clear: “President Donald J. Trump and the United States of America stand by the brave people of Iran.”
“President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations,” Waltz said. “He has made it clear, all options are on the table to stop the slaughter, and no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.”
Waltz dismissed Iranian allegations that the protests are “a foreign plot” and precursor to military action saying: “Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets.”
“They are afraid,” he said. “They are afraid of their own people.”
Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the Islamic Republic is behaving like the Islamic State militant group, “and deserves to be treated like" the group.
She said: “That is how you save innocent lives.”
She warned that “brutal slaughter” in Iran will get much worse if the world doesn’t take “serious action.”
Alinejad said all Iranians are united in seeking freedom and in the face of Iranian military weapons they want action, not “empty words and empty condemnations.”
The U.N. warns possible military strikes on Iran would add “volatility to an already combustible situation” in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Thursday.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres “urges maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or ignite a wider regional escalation,” Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee said at the meeting.
Guterres urges maximum restraint and remains convinced that all issues regarding Iran, including its nuclear program, should be addressed through diplomacy and dialogue, she said.
The U.N. chief reaffirms the U.N. Charter’s principles that disputes must be settled peacefully and prohibit the threat or use of force, Pobee said.
Masih Alinejad, one of the most vocal Iranian dissidents in the U.S., accused the United Nations and the Security Council of failing “to respond with the urgency this moment demands” at the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday.
In October, two purported Russian mobsters were each sentenced to 25 years behind bars for hiring a hitman to kill Alinejad at her Brooklyn home on behalf of the Iranian government.
Sitting across the table from the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., Alinejad, who came after an invitation from the U.S., said that “the members of this body have forgotten the privilege and responsibility of sitting in this room.”
In a stunning moment, even for Security Council standards, Alinejad addressed the Islamic Republic’s representative seated at the council directly.
“You have tried to kill me three times. I have seen my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden, in my home in Brooklyn,” she said while the Iranian official looked directly ahead, without acknowledging her.
Ahead of the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Secretary-General António Guterres
spoke by phone to discuss the recent deadly protests and Iran’s request for the world body to do more to condemn what they call foreign influence in the Islamic Republic, according to a readout of the call posted on Iranian state TV.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi implored the top U.N. official to live up to the “serious expectation” that Iran’s government and its people have of the U.N.s’ role in condemning what the officials called “illegal U.S. interventions against Iran.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that U.S. President Donald Trump and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be “grave consequences” if killing continues against protesters in Iran.
“The president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday, were halted,” she said.
But Trump continues closely watching the situation, she said.
“All options remain on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” scheme.
“Criminal gangs in Iran killed Iranian citizens, security forces and burned mosques,” he said without providing evidence. “What’s being committed by criminal gangs in Iran is horrific, bearing an American stamp as it includes slaughter and burning some people alive.”
He also said that the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis leading to the current issues in the country with the end goal of controlling Iran.
Yet he said the U.S. has “failed in Iran” and that Iranians “will not yield to America.”
The president of the European Union’s executive arm says the 27-member bloc is looking to strengthen sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday following a meeting of the EU’s commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus that current sanctions against Iran are “weakening the regime.”
Von der Leyen said that the EU is looking to sanction individual Iranians —apart from those who belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard — who “are responsible for the atrocities.”
She added that the people of Iran who are “bravely fighting for a change” have the EU’s “full political support.”
Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”
“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people — asking that their voices be heard in the face of the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations — has led the regime to flagrantly disregard human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.
“This violence must end. Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.
Anand said consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada. She did not provide details.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were wounded during the deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.
Amir Ali Latifi, an Iranian Red Crescent Society worker, was working in the country’s Gillan province on Jan. 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.
“The IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society,” the statement continued.
U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “good news” reports that the death sentence has been lifted for an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests.
Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.
Trump posed Thursday on his Truth Social site: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protester will no longer be sentenced to death after President Trump’s warnings. Likewise others.’ This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!”
Iranian state media denied Soltani had been condemned to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
Trump sent tensions soaring this week by pledging that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic Republic.
On Wednesday Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.
The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.
“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.
“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
Vehicles drive on a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
