Iran Judiciary Signals Swift Executions for Protesters

The head of Iran's judiciary has indicated that rapid trials and executions may be forthcoming for those arrested during nationwide protests, despite a warning from US President Donald Trump.

Anti-government protests across Iran have increased in size and become more violent since they began in late December, The Caspian Post reports, citing foreign media.

Reports on the death toll from the massacre from non-regime sources have varied, with US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) saying it had verified the deaths of 2,403 protesters, including 12 children.

It said a 147 members of security forces and government supporters had been killed, as well as nine civilians who were not protesters.

Iran International, an opposition TV network based in London, claims the death toll is as high as 12,000.

HRANA said it had confirmed that 18,434 people had been detained during the protests.

Iran's judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei said speed in judging and penalising those "who beheaded or burned people" was critical to ensuring such events did not happen again.

"If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly," Mr Mohseni-Ejei said while visiting a Tehran prison where protesters were being held.

"If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn't have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast."

His comments stand as a direct challenge to Mr Trump, who issued a warning to Iran about executions.

"We will take very strong action," Mr Trump said in a CBS interview that aired on Tuesday, local time.

"If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action."

Iranian news agencies have also quoted Mr Mohseni-Ejei as saying the trials should be held "in public" and that he had spent five hours in a prison in Tehran to examine the cases.