Iran to Execute First Protester as Trump Threatens Military Response

The Islamic Republic of Iran is preparing to publicly execute a 26-year-old man for daring to speak out against the regime a chilling signal that the hardline clerics ruling Tehran are escalating their war on dissent.

According to reports from Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFD), Erfan Soltani is set to be hanged on January 14 following his arrest during anti-government protests in Karaj. His crime? “Waging war against God” a vague, theocratic charge used by Iran’s mullahs to justify killing political dissidents.

The execution, which would be the first officially tied to the current wave of anti-regime protests, has drawn sharp condemnation from international human rights groups and prompted renewed calls for the West especially the United States to act.

“The risk of mass and extrajudicial executions of protesters is extremely serious,” said IHRNGO Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killings by the Islamic Republic.”

Soltani was reportedly denied access to legal representation, and his case remains shrouded in secrecy due to an ongoing internet blackout imposed by the regime to cut off communication with the outside world.

He is just one of more than 10,000 protesters arrested in recent weeks as Iran cracks down violently on a growing freedom movement that has rocked the regime’s foundations. Human rights observers estimate that over 500 protesters have been killed so far, many of them teenagers or young adults who have taken to the streets demanding the end of the Islamic dictatorship.

The wave of unrest is the most significant threat to the Iranian regime’s grip on power since its founding in 1979. Protesters have bypassed the failed “reform” movement entirely, calling for total regime change, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and rejecting the brutal theocracy’s legitimacy outright.

President Donald Trump is responding with a warning Tehran can’t afford to ignore.

“They better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too,” Trump said Friday, in a message to Iranian leaders.

The next day, he doubled down, writing on Truth Social “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that military options are on the table if Tehran proceeds with further violence.

“He certainly doesn’t want to see people being killed in the streets of Tehran,” Leavitt said. “The president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary.”

And with the regime threatening to execute peaceful protesters like Soltani, that moment may be fast approaching.

But not everyone in Washington agrees. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and a handful of non-interventionists in Congress have pushed back against the president, arguing that military force would require Congressional approval and could inadvertently rally support for the regime.

“If you bomb the government, do you then rally people to their flag?” Paul said. “There is this sticking point of the Constitution that we won't let presidents bomb countries just when they feel like it.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister has warned that any U.S. military action would be met with “full retaliation,” even threatening American forces in the region.

This is a dangerous moment but also a defining one.

The Islamic Republic is terrified, and rightly so. Its citizens are rising up with courage and clarity, demanding an end to four decades of tyranny. The world is watching whether America will stand with them or stand down.

If Iran follows through with Soltani’s execution, it will mark a point of no return not just for the regime, but for how the free world responds to evil when it stares us in the face.

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