Iran's judiciary has denied it scheduled the execution of a man arrested in connection with the country's recent protests.
Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said earlier this week that the family of Erfan Soltani, 26, had been told he faced execution on Wednesday, only days after he was detained.
On Wednesday, Hengaw cited them as saying Soltani's execution had been postponed but warned that serious and ongoing concerns regarding his life remained.
This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue! said US President Donald Trump, who had warned Iran not to execute protesters.
The Iranian judiciary said Soltani faced charges of colluding against national security and propaganda activities against the establishment, which are not punishable by the death penalty, state broadcaster IRIB reported.
It called reports by foreign media organizations that Soltani faced execution a blatant act of news fabrication.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said in an interview with US television that there was no plan to hang people.
It came after Trump threatened to take very strong action if executions were carried out, amid mounting speculation of possible US military strikes.
Soltani, a clothes shop owner, was arrested at his home last Thursday in connection with the protests in the northern city of Fardis, west of Tehran, according to the group and his family.
However, the judiciary said he was arrested during riots on Saturday and was being held in a prison in the neighboring city of Karaj, according to IRIB.
Speaking to the BBC from Europe, a cousin called Somaya said Soltani was still in jail and she remained concerned about him, although she had heard very little news because of the internet blackout in Iran.
However she said a message sent via the Starlink satellite internet service had said he had not had a defense lawyer and his family were under a lot of pressure from the authorities.
Erfan is the heart of that family. He's a very calm, very kind person, she said, adding that he loved photography, sport, and animals and had just wanted basic rights for himself and the people of Iran.
He had thousands of hopes for himself and other young people.
Somaya said the Iranian government had hoped that executing Erfan would scare people into stopping the protests.
Later on Thursday, the US Treasury department said Trump had directed it to impose new sanctions on five senior Iranian officials whom it accused of being the architects of the Iranian regime's brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.
Responding to the judiciary's statement, the director of the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said threats of the death penalty against detainees and their families were not uncommon.
