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Akbar Novruz

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Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, has pledged to carry out fast trials for those arrested during ongoing protests, according to state television and Iranian news agencies, Azernews reports via The Guardian.

“If a person burned someone, beheaded someone and set them on fire, then we must do our work quickly,” Mohseni-Ejei said during a visit to a Tehran prison holding protest detainees.

He added that the trials should be “in public” and spent five hours reviewing cases at the facility.

Rights organizations warn that thousands have been detained since the protests erupted, raising concerns that Iran may use capital punishment extensively against demonstrators.

The comments come amid growing international scrutiny over Iran’s handling of the unrest.

"To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting," the US President said during a speech in Michigan on Tuesday.

Trump warns of 'very strong action' if Iran executes protesters as more than 2,400 reported killed

Trump urged Iranians to "take over institutions" and to remember the names of "killers and abusers" - as they will "pay a very big price".

Reviving his vow that the US would come to the rescue of Iranian civilians protesting against the government, he also pledged that "help is on the way".

When asked to clarify this by the BBC's US partner CBS News, Trump said: "There's a lot of help on the way, in different forms, economic help from our standpoint, and we're not going to help Iran very much."

Referencing the deaths of protesters in Iran, the president said "it looks like a pretty substantial number".

Asked about reports that protesters are due to be executed on Wednesday, Trump said the US will take "very strong action if they do such a thing".