Officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman worked “behind the scenes” to defuse tensions between the US and Iran in an attempt to prevent an attack, a person with knowledge about the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Egypt was also involved in the diplomatic efforts, Reuters reported Thursday.
US President Donald Trump informed Tehran that the US would not attack and asked it to exercise restraint as well, Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn reported Thursday afternoon, citing Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam.
On Wednesday evening, Trump said he had been informed that the killings in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests were subsiding.
“We were told that the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “I’ve been told that on good authority. We’ll find out about it. I’m sure if it happens, I’ll be very upset.”
On Thursday afternoon, Trump posted on his Truth Social social-media platform that Fox had reported Iran would no longer execute Iranian protester Erfan Soltani.
“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!” Trump wrote.
Soltani, 26, was initially sentenced to death on Wednesday.
Reports of restraint 'beyond innacurate'
US Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) denied that Trump was backing down from striking the Iranian regime, decrying headlines making such claims as “beyond inaccurate.”
“The circumstances around the necessary, decisive action to be taken against the evil Iranian regime have nothing to do with President Trump’s will or determination,” he wrote on X/Twitter, adding that “nothing could be further from the truth.”
Graham, who has been an outspoken supporter of US military action against the Iranian regime, concluded his statement by advising everyone to “stay tuned.”
On Thursday morning, exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said: After the regime in Iran falls and “free Iran” rises, the country would immediately recognize Israel, normalize US relations, and aim to broaden the Abraham Accords into the “Cyrus Accords” to unite Iran, Israel, and the larger Arab world.
“Relations with the United States will be normalized, and our friendship with America and her people will be restored,” he said in a video posted on X/Twitter. “The State of Israel will be recognized immediately. We will pursue the expansion of the Abraham Accords into the Cyrus accords bringing together a free Iran, Israel, and the Arab world.”
Beginning his statement, which he addressed to “all of our friends around the world,” Pahlavi said Iran, which is “under the yoke of the Islamic Republic,” is popularly associated with “terrorism, extremism, and poverty,” but the “real” country, which existed before the Islamic regime took power, is “beautiful, peace-loving, and flourishing.”
This is the Iran that will eventually “rise again from [the] ashes” of the Islamic Republic, he said.
Pahlavi said the new Iran would end the country’s nuclear program and cease support for terrorist organizations, which it would work to confront, and combat drug trafficking, organized crime, and extreme Islamism.
“Iran will act as a friend and a stabilizing force in the region, and it will be a responsible partner in global security,” he said.
Citing Iran’s oil and gas reserves, Pahlavi said it would become a transparent, responsible, and predictable global energy supplier.
Regarding the country’s governance, Tehran would comply with international standards, he said.
“Money laundering will be confronted,” he added. “Organized corruption will be dismantled. Public institutions will answer to the people.”
Pahlavi lauded the Iranian people as “educated” and “modern” with a global diaspora that would power the country’s “untapped” economic potential.
“This is not an abstract vision,” he said. “It is a practical one, grounded in national interest, stability, and cooperation. To achieve this, now is the time to stand with the Iranian people. The fall of the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a secular, democratic government in Iran will not only restore dignity to my people, it will benefit the region and the world.”
Pahlavi’s comments come as Iran nears its third week of protests, which the ruling regime has responded to with brutal crackdowns.
According to some estimates, more than 12,000 people have been killed in the unrest. US-based Iranian human-rights group HRANA has confirmed the deaths of 2,615 people.
Trump has vowed support for the protesters in Iran, but on Wednesday, he expressed doubt about whether Pahlavi would be able to gain enough support to lead the country if the regime fell.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” he told Reuters. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet. I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.”