INTERNACIONAL
Iran agrees not to execute eight women tied to anti-regime protests after Trump’s public appeal
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President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran will no longer execute eight women linked to anti-regime protests after he urged their release a day earlier.
«Very good news! I have just been informed that the eight women protestors who were going to be executed tonight in Iran will no longer be killed,» Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Four of the women will reportedly be released immediately, while the remaining four will serve one-month prison sentences.
The president thanked Iran for halting the executions, saying, «I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request.»
FREED IRANIAN PRISONER SAYS ‘IN TRUMP, THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC HAS MET ITS MATCH’
President Donald Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump previously said on social media Tuesday that releasing the women could work in Iran’s favor during negotiations scheduled later that day, when he ultimately announced an extension of a two-week ceasefire.
«To the Iranian leaders, who will soon be in negotiations with my representatives: I would greatly appreciate the release of these women,» Trump said Tuesday, responding to an activist’s post on X that included photos of eight unidentified women.
«I am sure that they will respect the fact that you did so. Please do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations!!!»
Iran’s judiciary, however, quickly responded to Trump’s claims, denying that the women ever faced execution, according to Middle East-focused media outlet New Arab.
«Trump was misled once again by fake news,» the judiciary’s official Mizan Online website said. «The women who were claimed to be on the verge of execution, some of them have been released, while others face charges that, if convictions are upheld, would at most result in imprisonment.»
IRAN TO EXECUTE FIRST FEMALE PROTESTER TIED TO ANTI-REGIME UNREST
Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC/AP)
According to human rights groups, Iran reportedly last week scheduled the execution of a female protester linked to the January uprising, marking Tehran’s first publicly reported death penalty case involving a woman.
She was identified as Bita Hemmati and is among the eight women Trump said will no longer face capital punishment.
Hemmati was originally sentenced in a collective case alongside her husband and neighbors, the National Council of Resistance of Iran said.
On Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, the group allegedly threw objects such as concrete blocks and incendiary materials from rooftops, injured security forces and engaged in anti-regime «propaganda» in an effort to undermine security, according to federal authorities.
Demonstrators ignite a fire in the middle of the street during an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC/AP)
One Iranian journalist reported the identities of the other women in a post on X, claiming the defendants are as young as 16 years old.
One victim in particular, identified as Mahboubeh Shabani, 33, was accused of providing assistance to demonstrators injured during January’s uprising, according to the Norway-based Hengaw rights group.
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The women’s rulings are among the latest in a series of punishments issued amid a broader government crackdown on dissent.
Rights groups say thousands of protesters may have been killed since demonstrations erupted earlier this year.
iran, donald trump, world protests, middle east foreign policy, human rights
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The U.S.-designated terrorist Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen condemned Saudi Arabia for allegedly targeting the Sanna airport with airstrikes, sparking a possible new front with Iran’s terror-proxy.
While the Houthis agreed to a 2022 truce with the Saudi-led coalition that opposes its rule, the Houthis have frequently disrupted commercial shipping in the Red Sea since they joined Hamas following its invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The latest flare up of military strikes could lead to a resumption of war between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree called the attacks «blatant aggression» and said they had ended a period of de-escalation. He said Saudi Arabia would bear the consequences and that the attack would not go unanswered. The Houthis threatened to strike King Khalid Airport in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s Press TV reported on its X account that, «Iran condemns Saudi attack on Sana’a airport as breach of law, Yemen sovereignty.»
US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Smoke rises following an airstrike at Sanaa International Airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, July 13, 2026, in this screengrab taken from a video. (Al Masirah Handout via Reuters)
The official slogan of the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) is: «God is great, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.»
Earlier on Monday, the government’s defense ministry said the runway at Sanaa International Airport had been targeted to prevent an Iranian plane from landing. An armed forces spokesman later said the aircraft had landed at Houthi-controlled Hodeidah airport.
Salman Al-Ansari, a prominent Saudi geopolitical analyst, told Fox News Digital, «The Iranian-backed Houthi militia is now in a desperate position, attempting to demonstrate its usefulness to its Iranian masters amid the ongoing U.S.-Iran war.»
Yemen’s Iran-backed armed Houthi group has warned they will move to shutter the Bab Al-Mandeb Strait through missile-drone attacks if Gulf nations join the US-Israel war on Iran. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
He said, «This is an action taken by Yemen’s legitimate government in response to the violation of its airspace and sovereignty. It was not carried out by Saudi Arabia or the coalition. Yemeni forces struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport after the terrorist Houthi militia defied international law by allowing unauthorized Iranian flights into Yemen, despite measures intended to prevent the smuggling of weapons and explosives.»
According to Al-Ansari, «The Houthis know that these flights can land normally if they follow the agreed-upon route through a Jordanian airport, for inspection purposes. The Houthis are currently at one of their weakest points, particularly after Yemen’s legitimate government consolidated effective authority over 80% of the country’s territory. This is a marked departure from the past, when the legitimate government was fragmented between two rival camps.»
ISRAELI AMBASSADOR WARNS IRAN’S GRIP ON LEBANON IS A ‘WARNING SIGN’ FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE
A Houthi rebel fighter fires in the air during a gathering aimed at mobilizing more fighters for the their movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis, who drove out the internationally-recognized government. Months later, in March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition launched its air campaign to prevent the rebels from overrunning the country’s south. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Israel, Lebanon and other Sunni Gulf countries have expressed concerns about the Iranian regime’s plan to establish a so-called «Shiite crescent» that stretches from Iran to Lebanon and includes such terrorist proxies as the Houthis and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Al-Ansari noted that «By confronting the Houthis, Yemen’s legitimate government is not only defending its own sovereignty; it is helping safeguard the region and the wider world from Iran’s network of terrorist proxies.»
Nadwa Al-Dawsari, an expert on Yemen and an associate fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital that, «The Houthis’ warning that the strike on Sana’a airport ‘will not go unanswered’ should be taken seriously. But the significance of the incident extends well beyond the prospect of retaliation.
She said, «The dispute was never really about civilian aviation or simply returning a Houthi delegation from Tehran. The Yemeni government had agreed to facilitate the delegation’s return aboard a Yemenia aircraft. The issue was the Iranian aircraft itself.»
Houthi terrorists walk over British and U.S. flags at a rally in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and the recent Houthi strikes on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden on Feb. 4, 2024, on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She added that «By proceeding with the Mahan Air flight despite Yemeni objections and ensuring that it reached Houthi-controlled Yemen anyway, Iran and the Houthis were sending a political message: Tehran intends to normalize direct and public ties with Houthi-controlled Yemen and is willing to challenge the restrictions that have governed access to the country since 2015.»
The U.S. government sanctioned Mahan Air for its role in supplying weapons and technology to terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
Al-Dawsari said, «What we are increasingly seeing is a pattern in which Iran and its proxies create facts on the ground, betting that regional and international actors have little appetite for escalation and will eventually adjust to them. We have seen the same approach in the Strait of Hormuz.»
Pro-Iran protesters brandish billboards depicting the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, flags of Yemen and Iran, weapons, and chant slogans as they take part in a rally held to condemn the US-Israel aerial attacks on Iran and killing the Iranian supreme leader and several military officials on March 1, 2026 in Sana’a, Yemen. (Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
She said, «The episode also highlights the Houthis’ growing importance within Iran’s regional network. While other members of the Axis of Resistance have been weakened in recent years, the Houthis have emerged as Tehran’s most capable and strategically important partners, particularly in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.»
According to Reuters, the Saudi government’s communication office did not immediately respond to the accusations.
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Muhammad Al-Farah, a member of the Houthi Political Bureau, wrote on Telegram, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), that the alleged Saudi attack will lead to the Bab al-Mandab Strait joining the Strait of Hormuz with respect to disruption and possible closure. As a result, the price of a barrel of oil will rise to $200 and the attacks give the Houthis a reason to «strike back and liberate Yemen from occupation.»
Fox News Digital sent press queries to the State Department and the White House.
Reuters contributed to this report.
war with iran, saudi arabia, terrorism, conflicts
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Trump backs Lindsey Graham’s sister for Senate seat
‘Outnumbered’ discusses the passing of Sen. Lindsey Graham at 71 due to aortic dissection as tributes from around Washington pour in. The panel also discusses President Donald Trump suggesting Graham’s sister fill his Senate seat.
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Tragedy built a strong bond between Darline Graham Nordone and her brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Tragedy is once again striking its bell, this time with the sudden passing of her brother and father figure. And now, she’s being considered to replace him in the Senate, just over 24 hours after his death.
President Donald Trump and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., both want her in the role, and sources have told Fox News that Scott has been speaking with her about filling in for the remainder of Graham’s term.
TRUMP MAKES SURPRISE PICK TO FILL GRAHAM’S SENATE SEAT
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., waves to attendees while riding in a golf cart to a television interview with his sister, Darline Graham Nordone, during the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Monday, Aug. 17, 2015. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump is pushing South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to appoint her, announcing that he recommended the governor tap Graham’s «wonderful sister» to serve out his term as a caretaker.
«This would be a fabulous tribute to Lindsey, who loved her dearly,» Trump said on Truth Social.
McMaster is slated to announce his pick Monday afternoon in a news conference that Scott is also expected to attend.
If he does tap Nordone, it would be a temporary selection. In the background, private jockeying is already happening to succeed Graham as the GOP nominee in the Palmetto State.
The filing deadline to succeed Graham and run for a full six-year Senate term opens July 21 and a special election primary is scheduled for Aug. 11. Many South Carolina politicians have expressed interest in the job, seeing the vacant Senate seat as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to serve in the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Nordone has never held public office, unlike her brother, who served in Congress for three decades in both the House and Senate. Nordone is a mother of two and worked in a vocational rehabilitation role that specifically helped people with disabilities find employment in South Carolina.
GRAHAM’S DEATH IGNITES GOP SCRAMBLE FOR SENATE SEAT AS TRUMP HINTS HE ALREADY HAS A FAVORITE
And whether she’s ready to accept the position remains unclear.
«Actually, I’m just kind of like devastated right now,» Nordone told the New York Post shortly after Trump’s announcement.
Nordone and Graham shared a unique bond, too. Graham was in his early 20s when both their parents died within less than a year of one another. That tragedy pushed him to become her primary legal guardian and caretaker, thrusting him into the role of father and brother to his younger sister.
«Of all the things that have happened in my life, her turning out so well is the highlight of it by far,» Graham told C-SPAN in 2015.
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President Donald Trump and Sen. Lindsey Graham speak to the media aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Nordone highlighted the outsized role Graham played in raising her after the death of their parents. After becoming her legal guardian, he enlisted in the Air Force to allow her to qualify for his military benefits. She later credited him with ensuring that she completed high school and college.
«He’s kind of like a brother, a father and a mother rolled into one,» she told The New York Times in an interview in 2015.
Nordone was a frequent presence in Graham’s campaigns during his decades-long career.
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«My parents, they were loving people and cared about us, but Lindsey was always the one that took care of me and helped me with my homework,» she said in a campaign spot titled «Darline.» «If I was sick, he gave me my medicine. He taught me how to ride a bicycle.»
«He never let me down,» she continued. «To take on that responsibility of raising a little sister — that came from within for Lindsey.»
politics, lindsey graham, senate elections, donald trump, midterm elections
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