No sign of new protests in Iran as a hard-line cleric calls for executions and threatens Trump

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As Iran returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown, a senior hard-line cleric called Friday for the death penalty for detained demonstrators and directly threatened U.S. President Donald Trump — evidence of the rage gripping authorities in the Islamic Republic.

Trump, though, struck a conciliatory note, thanking Iran's leaders for not executing hundreds of detained protesters, in a further sign he may be backing away from a military strike. Executions, as well as the killing of peaceful protesters, are two of the red lines laid down by Trump for possible action against Iran.

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

There have been no signs of protests for days in Tehran, where shopping and street life have returned to outward normality, though a week-old internet blackout continued. Authorities have not reported any unrest elsewhere in the country.

“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that "I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”

Trump did not clarify who he spoke to in Iran to confirm the state of any planned executions.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Friday put the death toll at 3,090. The number, which exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution, continues to rise. The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations, relying on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.

The AP has been unable to independently confirm the toll. Iran’s government has not provided casualty figures.

In contrast, the sermon by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami carried by Iranian state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”

Khatami, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council long known for his hard-line views, described the protesters as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “Trump’s soldiers.” He said Netanyahu and Trump should await "hard revenge from the system.”

“Americans and Zionists should not expect peace," the cleric said.

His fiery speech came as allies of Iran and the United States alike sought to defuse tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke Friday to both Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Israel's Netanyahu, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russia had previously kept largely quiet about the protests. Moscow has watched several key allies suffer blows as its resources and focus are consumed by its 4-year-old war against Ukraine, including the downfall of Syria’s former President Bashar Assad in 2024, last year’s U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro this month.

Days after Trump pledged “help is on its way” for the protesters, both the demonstrations and the prospect of imminent U.S. retaliation appeared to have receded. One diplomat told The Associated Press that top officials from Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar had raised concerns with Trump that a U.S. military intervention would shake the global economy and destabilize an already volatile region.

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi urged the U.S. to make good on its pledge to intervene. Pahlavi, whose father was overthrown by Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, said he still believes the president's promise of assistance.

“I believe the president is a man of his word," Pahlavi told reporters in Washington. He added that "regardless of whether action is taken or not, we as Iranians have no choice to carry on the fight.“

“I will return to Iran,” he vowed. Hours later, he urged protesters to take to the streets again from Saturday to Monday.

Despite support by diehard monarchists in the diaspora, Pahlavi has struggled to gain wider appeal within Iran. But that has not stopped him from presenting himself as the transitional leader of Iran if the government were to fall.

Khatami, the hard-line cleric, also provided the first overall statistics on damage from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 other holy places had sustained damage. Another 80 homes of Friday prayer leaders — an important position within Iran's theocracy — were also damaged, likely underlining the anger demonstrators felt toward symbols of the government.

He said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 fire department vehicles, and another 50 emergency vehicles also sustained damage.

Even as protests appeared to have been smothered inside Iran, thousands of exiled Iranians and their supporters have taken to the streets in cities across Europe to shout out their rage at the government of the Islamic Republic.

Amid the continuing internet shutdown, some Iranians crossed borders to communicate with the outside world. At a border crossing in Turkey’s eastern province of Van, a trickle of Iranians crossing on Friday said they were traveling to get around the communications blackout.

“I will go back to Iran after they open the internet,” said a traveler who gave only his first name, Mehdi, out of security concerns.

Also crossing the border were some Turkish citizens escaping the unrest in Iran.

Mehmet Önder, 47, was in Tehran for his textiles business when the protests erupted. He said he laid low in his hotel until it was shut for security reasons, then stayed with one of his customers until he was able to return to Turkey.

Although he did not venture into the streets, Önder said he heard heavy gunfire.

“I understand guns, because I served in the military in the southeast of Turkey,” he said. “The guns they were firing were not simple weapons. They were machine guns.”

In a sign of the conflict’s potential to spill over borders, a Kurdish separatist group in Iraq said it has launched attacks on Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in recent days in retaliation for Tehran’s crackdown on protests.

A representative of the Kurdistan Freedom Party, or PAK, said its members have “played a role in the protests through both financial support and armed operations to defend protesters when needed.” The group said the attacks were launched by members of its military wing based inside Iran.

Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Will Weissert and Darlene Superville in Washington and Serra Yedikardes at the Kapikoy Border Crossing, Turkey, contributed.

Iranian opposition leader Reza Pahlavi speaks during a news conference on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A woman crosses an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A street vendor adjusts clothes for sale in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Vehicles drive in downtown Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

FILE - Iranian senior cleric Ahmad Khatami delivers his sermon during Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

Profar was suspended by Major League Baseball on Tuesday following his second positive test for a performance-enhancing drug.

Profar, an outfielder and designated hitter, was expected to be a regular, perhaps as the No. 2 hitter behind Ronald Acuña Jr., in Atlanta's lineup. Weiss, speaking to reporters before Wednesday's exhibition game against Team Colombia in North Port, Florida, said the Braves could overcome losing Profar just as they won the 2021 World Series after losing Acuña to a knee injury.

“The moral of the story is something good is likely to come from the bad news,” Weiss said. “It just tends to happen that way. Someone’s gonna step up, someone’s gonna get an opportunity. In 2021, the day we lost Ronald, nobody’s picking that option. And nobody’s taking this option. But guess what, and I truly believe that something good will come of this.”

Weiss had been the Braves' bench coach since 2018 before he was named the manager on Nov. 3, following Brian Snitker's retirement.

Profar tested positive for exogenous testosterone and its metabolites, the commissioner’s office said, which means testosterone that was not produced by his body. Because it was a second offense, the length of Profar’s suspension was 162 games.

Weiss said he has to prepare to be without Profar all season even though Profar will appeal the suspension.

An All-Star in 2024, Profar was suspended for 80 games last March 31 following a positive test for Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG), a hormone that helps production of testosterone. He issued a statement then saying: “I would never willingly take a banned substance, but I take full responsibility and accept MLB’s decision.”

Catcher Drake Baldwin, the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year, was the designated hitter on Wednesday. Weiss said he expects his designated hitter spot to be “fairly fluid” without Profar.

Weiss said “I feel really good” the Braves signed left fielder Mike Yastrzemski to a $23 million, two-year deal in the offseason. Yastrzemski, Acuña and Michael Harris are expected to be the team's starting outfielders. Profar might have shared time with Yastrzemski in left field on days Baldwin was the designated hitter. Now Eli White may serve as the fourth outfielder.

Mauricio Dubon will open the season as the starting shortstop while Ha-Seong Kim recovers from a finger injury. When Kim returns, Dubon could be another option in the outfield.

Weiss insisted Profar's suspension “doesn’t change anything we do here. We’re getting ready for our season, and it doesn’t change anything about our camp. There’ll be opportunities created because of this. It’s not something that we would choose but that’s where we’re at, and it’s onward. That’s the message, and we have a professional group. They’re handling it really well and very focused.”

Weiss said he has not talked with Profar, who he recently praised for his leadership after returning from last year's suspension.

“Look, I said that and I talked about him winning me over last year and he did,” Weiss said. “I’m not gonna change that. The fact of the matter is he was a really good teammate last year, and was a good player for us, was a leader in our clubhouse, you know? And that’s what I said. None of us saw this coming. So yeah, I stand by what I said at that point in time. And again, we’ll let this (appeal) process play out.”

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Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss (22) walks in the dugout during a rain delay before a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins in North Port, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

FILE - Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar reacts during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File)

FILE - Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar reacts after fouling off a pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)