Iran Unrest: Trump Says Sources Tell Him the Bloodshed Has Halted and Planned Executions Are Off

By: Fern Sidman

In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, as the Middle East stirred uneasily beneath a pall of strategic uncertainty, Iran abruptly shuttered its airspace to nearly all traffic, permitting only a narrow trickle of international flights operating under special authorization. The decision, reported on Wednesday by Israel National News, was interpreted by regional observers as one of the clearest signs yet that Tehran is bracing for turbulence far beyond the realm of domestic protest.

The closure came amid a cascade of unsettling indicators across the region. Reports emerging from Iraq indicated that fighter jets were heard over the Kirkuk area in the country’s north, while Israeli defense officials were already speaking in hushed but urgent tones about the probability that the United States would intervene militarily in Iran within days. According to the information provided in the Israel National News report, the mood in Jerusalem is one of vigilant expectancy, with the Home Front Command poised to issue revised guidelines to the Israeli public should events spiral toward confrontation.

Against this volatile backdrop, President Trump addressed reporters from the Oval Office, offering remarks that were immediately seized upon by analysts and foreign ministries alike.

“We have been notified pretty strongly that the killing in Iran is stopping, and there’s no plan for executions or an execution,” Trump declared, adding that the information came from what he described as “very important sources on the other side.” He cautioned that the situation remained fluid: “We’re going to find out. I’ll find out after this, you’ll find out.”

The comments followed days of global alarm over Iran’s brutal crackdown on nationwide protests, which erupted over economic collapse but rapidly evolved into a challenge to clerical rule itself. Sky News later reported that the planned execution of protester Erfan Soltani had not been carried out, a development that many observers interpreted as a tentative signal that Tehran may be responding—at least partially—to international pressure.

The Israel National News report underscored that Israeli officials remain skeptical that the regime’s pause, if genuine, represents more than a tactical reprieve. “Jerusalem does not believe the Islamic Republic has abandoned its strategy of repression,” one senior Israeli official told the outlet, “only that it may be recalibrating in the face of mounting external pressure.”

In Israel, the implications of a possible U.S. strike on Iran have already begun to reshape the strategic posture of the defense establishment. According to the information contained in the Israel National News report, the country’s alert level was raised earlier this week, with even a routine cabinet meeting reportedly interrupted mid-session on Tuesday to monitor Trump’s speech in real time.

Kan 11 News reported that Israeli intelligence assessments point toward an American operation combining cyber warfare with targeted kinetic strikes—an approach designed to degrade regime capabilities while avoiding a prolonged ground entanglement. Israeli officials have conveyed to Washington that they expect several hours’ notice before any strike, allowing them to prepare for inevitable Iranian retaliation, whether through ballistic missiles, drones, or proxy forces arrayed across Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.

The strategic anxiety is not confined to Israel alone. Gulf states are quietly reinforcing defensive systems, acutely aware that Iranian threats have extended to American bases on their soil. Tehran has warned neighboring countries that any U.S. attack launched from their territory would render those facilities legitimate targets.

While public rhetoric has been resolute, the deliberations inside the Trump administration appear far more complex. NBC News reported that Trump has instructed his national security team that any military action must deliver a swift and decisive blow to the Iranian regime rather than entangle the United States in another drawn-out Middle Eastern conflict.

“If he does something, he wants it to be definitive,” one official familiar with the discussions told NBC.

Yet the same report revealed sobering doubts among Trump’s advisers. They have not been able to guarantee that the Iranian regime would collapse rapidly following a strike, nor that the United States possesses sufficient assets in the region to neutralize what is expected to be a ferocious Iranian response. These uncertainties, according to U.S. officials, could push the White House toward authorizing a limited initial strike while keeping escalation options in reserve.

“All options are at President Trump’s disposal to address the situation in Iran,” a White House official said, pointing to recent U.S. operations in Iran and Venezuela as evidence that the president “means what he says.”

Iran’s decision to close its airspace is more than a logistical inconvenience—it is a strategic semaphore. Aviation experts interviewed by Israel National News noted that such closures are typically reserved for moments when a state anticipates either incoming strikes or outbound operations that cannot be publicly acknowledged.

Inside Iran, the blackout on information remains profound. Internet restrictions have made independent verification of developments almost impossible, though rights groups claim thousands have been killed and tens of thousands detained. Iranian officials, for their part, insist that calm has returned and that foreign powers are orchestrating unrest through “armed terrorists.”

State media broadcast images of mass funerals and rallies, showing crowds waving Iranian flags and portraits of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. President Masoud Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting that as long as the government retained popular support, “all the enemies’ efforts against the country will come to nothing.”

As diplomatic and military maneuvering accelerates, Western governments have begun taking precautionary measures for their citizens. Britain issued a late-night travel warning advising against all but essential travel to Israel, citing the “heightened risk of regional tension” and the possibility of sudden escalation.

The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem followed suit with a security alert covering Israel, Judea and Samaria, and Gaza, urging American citizens to exercise heightened vigilance, review travel plans, and prepare for potential disruptions. Israel National News reported that embassy officials emphasized the importance of contingency planning, warning that crises in the region often unfold with little or no warning.

The convergence of these developments—the closure of Iranian airspace, fighter jets over Iraqi skies, raised alert levels in Israel, travel warnings from Western capitals, and Trump’s cryptic signals from the White House—has left the Middle East suspended in a state of collective apprehension.

For Israelis, the stakes are existential. Israel National News has chronicled how Jerusalem views the Iranian regime not merely as a hostile state but as the central node in a network of proxies—from Hezbollah in Lebanon to militias in Syria and Gaza—whose declared aim is Israel’s eradication. Any U.S. action, even if narrowly tailored, risks igniting that network.

For Iranians, meanwhile, the moment is one of tragic ambiguity. Protesters who have poured into the streets demanding dignity and economic relief now find themselves caught between a regime that has shown little hesitation in using lethal force and a foreign power that hints at intervention but has yet to commit.

And for Washington, the decision before Trump is perhaps the most consequential of his presidency: whether to translate rhetorical solidarity with Iranian protesters into military reality, knowing that the repercussions would reverberate from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean—and likely far beyond.

As the Israel National News report observed in its late-night analysis, “The skies over Iran may be closed, but the region’s future has never been more open—and more