ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s judiciary chief on Wednesday ordered authorities to “expedite” the cases of protesters detained during weeks-long nationwide demonstrations, whom officials have described as “rioters” and “foreign agents,” with rights monitors warning that some protesters are on the verge of execution. 

The Iranian state has warned that it will show no leniency toward protesters it labels “rioters,” portraying them as “foreign agents” and “terrorist elements” working with the West.

Following repeated threats by US President Donald Trump against Iranian authorities, the US president told reporters on early Wednesday that Washington would “take very strong action” if Iran begins hanging protesters this week.

Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Wednesday that trials of arrested protesters should be intensified, describing detainees as “elements who beheaded people or burned people in the streets,” and ordering courts “to expedite” the cases of those accused in the recent “riots,” state broadcaster IRIB reported.

“People who beheaded people, burned people, set them on fire, well, if we want to do something, we have to do it quickly, we have to do it on time,” Ejei said.

He further warned that if proceedings are delayed, “they will no longer have the same effect,” adding that if action can be taken, it should be done immediately.

The Islamic republic has a long history of labeling protesters as “rioters” and alleging ties to the US and Israel, responding with heavy crackdowns, arrests, and, in some cases, charges that carry the death penalty.

Based on limited information from inside Iran, Erfan Soltani, a citizen arrested during recent protests, has been “sentenced to death in Ghezel Hesar Prison,” with concerns that he is “on the verge of execution” within hours, the Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported on Wednesday. 

Due to communication cutoffs and lack of family access, his current status could not be confirmed, Hengaw added. 

Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed Washington’s support for Iranian protesters, saying “help is on the way,” as Iranian authorities condemned the US’s recent comments while intensifying their crackdown amid a nationwide internet blackout and ongoing protests.

The Iranian army’s chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, on Wednesday warned that “IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] Aerospace Force is at peak defensive readiness and is ready to confront any aggression,” IRIB reported. 

He said all damage from the 12-day war has been repaired and reaffirmed the forces’ readiness as tensions rise.

Mousavi described protestors as “enemy-trained terrorist forces,” adding that the recent unrest was the enemy's plan following the June war. “Many of the terrorist acts in the recent incidents were precisely calculated subversive actions, and the country had never faced such a volume of destruction,” he said.

In June, Israel killed top brass Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists with airstrikes, prompting retaliatory attacks by Tehran, with the two trading salvos of missiles and drones for 12 days. The US also bombed the key Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites in the country near the end of the conflict.

Iran’s prosecutor general Mohammad Movahedi Azad, who has previously accused detained protesters of “enmity against God,” said Wednesday that authorities have ordered the seizure of “assets” belonging to what he described as “terrorists,” rioters, and perpetrators. 

He added that those whose property was damaged during the unrest should report the losses to seek compensation.

Charges include “corruption on Earth” (efsad-e fel-arz), “enmity against God” (moharebeh), and “armed rebellion against the state” (baghi).

Movahedi also stressed that any cooperation or exchange of information with international networks would be considered “a crime.”

Nationwide protests in Iran have entered their third week, beginning on December 27 at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where business owners and shopkeepers launched strikes and protests over the falling value of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. The unrest later spread to other provinces, with chants increasingly targeting the state. 

Over 2,500 people have reportedly been killed across Iran during the recent protests, Hengaw said on Tuesday, with many others arrested and injured. 

Iranian authorities have intensified their crackdown and imposed a near-weeklong nationwide internet shutdown since Thursday, continuing their pattern of restricting online platforms during periods of unrest to control the flow of news.