Iran denies eight women protesters are at risk of execution after Trump appeals for their release to aid negotiations.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has appealed to Iran to release eight women arrested during protests, suggesting it could benefit negotiations.
Iran’s judiciary promptly denied the women were at risk of execution, calling Trump’s information “fake news”.
“Trump was misled once again by fake news,” the judiciary’s official Mizan Online website stated. It clarified that some women had been released, while others faced charges carrying imprisonment, not death.
Trump reposted an activist’s claim on Truth Social that the women faced death by hanging. “I would greatly appreciate the release of these women,” he wrote.
US-based dissident Masih Alinejad subsequently named all eight women, alleging one was as young as 16. They were all arrested during major protests in January, which activists say were violently suppressed.
One named woman, Bita Hemmati, was sentenced to death earlier this month alongside three men. Rights groups report they are accused of throwing concrete blocks at security forces from a Tehran building.
Another, Mahboubeh Shabani, 32, faces the capital charge of “waging war against God”. She is accused of using her motorcycle to transport wounded protesters in Mashhad.
Rights groups express deep concern over the risk of death sentences in these cases. A recent joint report states at least 1,639 people were executed in Iran in 2025, including 48 women.
Activists accuse Iran of using executions to instil fear, particularly amid its war with the US and Israel.
