Iran’s judiciary signals fast trials and executions for detained protesters

The head of Iran’s judiciary has said there will be fast trials and executions for people detained in nationwide protests, despite a warning from Donald Trump.

The comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei came as activists warned that hangings of those detained could come soon.

A security force crackdown on the demonstrations has already killed at least 2,571 people, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported.

That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Mr Trump has repeatedly warned that the US may take military action over the killing of peaceful protesters, just months after it bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel against the Islamic Republic in June.

Mr Mohseni-Ejei, speaking in a video shared by Iranian state television online, said: “If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly.

“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.”

His comments represent a direct challenge to the US president, who warned Tehran about executions an interview on Tuesday.

“We will take very strong action,” Mr Trump said. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”

Activists said on Wednesday that satellite internet service Starlink was offering free service in Iran.

The service has been key in getting around an internet shutdown launched by the theocracy on January 8. Iran began allowing people to call out internationally on Tuesday on their mobile phones, but calls from outside the country into Iran remain blocked.

“We can confirm that the free subscription for Starlink terminals is fully functional,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who has helped get the units into Iran.

“We tested it using a newly activated Starlink terminal inside Iran.”

Starlink did not immediately acknowledge the decision.

Security service personnel were apparently searching for Starlink dishes, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes.

Satellite TV dishes are illegal in Iran but many in the capital have them in homes, and officials had broadly given up on enforcing the law in recent years.