Trump sees Iranian crackdown easing, Tehran denies man to be executed

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been told that killings in Iran's crackdown on protests were easing and that he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions, adopting a wait-and-see posture after earlier threatening intervention.



Iranian state media on Thursday reported that a 26-year-old man arrested during the protests in the city of Karaj would not be given the death sentence, after a rights group reported earlier this week that he was due to be executed on Wednesday.



Trump's comments at the White House on Wednesday led oil prices to retreat from multi-month highs and gold eased from a record peak on Thursday.



Trump's comments came after fears grew in the Middle East that Washington could launch strikes, following his repeated threats to intervene on behalf of Iranian protesters. Trump did not rule out possible U.S. military action, however.



In separate comments, Trump told Reuters in an exclusive interview that Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi "seems very nice" but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over.