Iran signals fast trials, executions for protesters

More than 2,500 people have already been killed, according to an activist group.

- JON GAMBRELL

A STILL from video circulating on social media shows protesters cheering around a bonfire in Tehran.

Iran's judiciary head signaled Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for suspects detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from President Trump.

The comments by Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei came as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon. The security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,586, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Trump has repeatedly warned that the U.S. 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.

Iran meanwhile has threatened it could make a preemptive strike after alleging without offering evidence that Israel and the United States orchestrated the protests. A U.S. official said some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar have been advised to evacuate by Wednesday evening, a decision that came as a senior official in Iran brought up an earlier Iranian attack there.

A mass funeral also was held Wednesday for some 100 security force members killed in the demonstrations. Tens of thousands of mourners attended, holding Iranian flags and photos of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The caskets, covered in Iranian flags, stood stacked at least three high. Red and white roses and framed photographs covered them.