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President Donald Trump took the unusual step on Friday of thanking the Iranian government for not following through on executions of what he said was meant to be hundreds of political prisoners.
“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, adding that he “greatly respected” the move.
The sentiment seemed to back away from Trump’s recent repeated suggestions that the U.S. might strike Iran militarily if its government triggered mass killings during widespread protests that swept that country but now have quieted.
Over the past two days, several Middle Eastern allies of the U.S. had urged the Trump administration to hold off on striking, fearing such action would destabilize an already volatile region as well as the global economy.
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