Iranian FM attacks Israeli paper over executions report

“Before buying the narrative being peddled, consider who benefits from it,” Araghchi wrote.

By World Israel News Staff

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi lashed out at Israeli news outlet Israel Hayom and its publisher, Miriam Adelson, following a report alleging that Iran continued carrying out executions despite assurances to Washington aimed at averting a U.S. strike.

In a post on X, Araghchi dismissed the report as politically motivated. “Whenever Miriam Adelson’s mouthpiece pushes a dramatic claim about Iran, it’s worth asking who it serves,” he wrote.

He suggested the timing was deliberate, noting the article appeared “just an hour before Netanyahu’s White House visit,” and accused the outlet of attempting to create the impression that Iran had “deceived” President Donald Trump.

Rejecting the allegations outright, Araghchi stated: “The facts: no executions have taken place, no court process has been concluded, and more than 2,000 prisoners have been pardoned.”

He added, “Before buying the narrative being peddled, consider who benefits from it—and who may actually be doing the deceiving.”

Israel Hayom, a free Hebrew-language daily and the most widely distributed newspaper in Israel, is owned by the family of the late Sheldon Adelson and is widely regarded as having a right-leaning editorial stance.

The report at the center of the dispute claimed that in early January, as U.S. forces advanced toward the Gulf, Araghchi and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian conveyed messages to Washington promising that executions of protesters would cease in order to prevent a potential American strike.

According to the report, President Trump later presented the halt as an achievement that helped delay military action.

However, citing intelligence assessments from Western agencies, including the Mossad as well as British and German services, the article alleged that executions continued but were concealed, with detainees allegedly killed in custody and deaths attributed to unrest.

The dispute unfolds amid heightened tensions over U.S.–Iran negotiations and shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s three-hour meeting with President Trump at the White House.