An Iranian shopkeeper who faced execution after being detained for taking part in an anti-regime protest has been released on bail.
Erfan Soltani, 26, became one of the faces of the resistance against the Islamic Republic’s brutality when demonstrations began sweeping the country at the end of last year.
He was arrested on January 8 on charges of propaganda against Iran’s religious system and acting against national security, the Middle Eastern nation’s judiciary said.
After spending three weeks in prison, Mr Soltani’s lawyer Amir Mousakhani confirmed on Sunday that his client had been released the previous day.
Mr Mousakhani added that the business owner has reportedly ‘received all of his belongings including his cellphone’ back and a bail worth around £11,000 had been paid to secure his release.
Mr Soltani was reportedly held at the Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, outside Tehran – the largest state prison in Iran – and at one point was set to be the first person executed as part of a ruthless crackdown on dissent by the Iranian authorities.
The US State Department raised the case on its Persian-language X account, noting that he had been sentenced to death.
Washington warned the Islamic Republic it could face military measures if any anti-government demonstrators were executed.
Erfan Soltani, 26, was set to face execution after he was tried, convicted and sentenced for taking part in an anti-government protest – but he has now been released on bail after his case was highlighted by the United States
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pictured on February 1, 2026) has warned US aggression could trigger a regional war
Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj, outside of Tehran – the largest state prison in Iran – where Mr Soltani was reportedly held
However, Tehran said he had never been sentenced to death and that the charges against him did not carry the death penalty – but the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights had warned that he was still in danger.
Speaking prior to his release, sources close to the Soltani family told the Norway-based rights group that ‘the sentence is just postponed’, not withdrawn.
‘We are still worried about his life,’ Arina Moradi had told the Daily Mail. She said executions can happen quickly after sentencing, but she has also ‘seen cases where they were delayed and unclear for years, but all of a sudden they implemented the sentence’.
Conditions at Ghezel Hesar are notoriously harsh and Ms Moradi said ‘torture is very possible’.
‘Many political prisoners, almost all of them, face torture and forced confession,’ she added.
The demonstrations in Iran began at the end of December as an expression of discontent at the high cost of living, but grew into a mass anti-government movement that the country’s leaders have described as ‘riots’ stoked by the United States and Israel.
Speaking to Iranian state television on Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei compared the protests to ‘a coup’ and accused demonstrators of burning the Koran.
The Supreme Leader’s stance represents a hardening of his position after he earlier acknowledged some people had legitimate economic grievances that sparked their protests.
The Ayatollah also warned that a regional war would erupt if the US attacked them, amid ongoing tension in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US has been building up its forces in the waterway – one of the world’s most important shipping lanes – which President Donald Trump said could act against Iran with ‘speed and violence’ if it continued to violently suppress peaceful protests.
There were fears that the two countries could find themselves in a dangerous stand-off after it was reported last week that Iran was expecting to hold live naval firing drills in the Strait of Hormuz.
It led to a warning from the US on Saturday that the two-day exercise would not be tolerated if conducted near to where US military vessels were based in the region.
But the Iranian Revolutionary Guard played down reports of a live-firing exercise, blaming inaccurate media reporting.
Iran’s supreme leader escalated a war of words with President Trump on Sunday by declaring yesterday that further US aggression would trigger a ‘regional war’ in the Middle East.
Protesters set fire to makeshift barricades near a religious centre on January 10, 2026 in Gorgan, Iran
The courtyard of the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre of Tehran Province in Kahrizak on January 12, 2026 with dozens of bodies in bodybags laid out for family members
A giant banner depicting a US aircraft carrier and the American flag displayed at Enqelab (Revolution) Square in Tehran on January 25, 2026
The comments from the 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are the most direct threat made so far to the US, as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and associated American warships are in the Arabian Sea.
The ‘very big’ warships were deployed to the region by President Trump after Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests against the regime.
It remains unclear whether President Trump will again resort to force against Iran, after carrying out strikes on nuclear facilities in June during Israel’s 12-day war against Iran.
The Ayatollah described anti-government protests that saw killings and vandalism as akin to ‘a coup’.
Speaking to a crowd at his compound in Tehran as Iran marked the start of a days-long commemoration of the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, he accused the US of wanting to ‘seize’ Iran’s oil and natural gas resources.
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‘The Americans must be aware that if they wage a war this time, it will be a regional war,’ he said.
‘We are not the instigators, we are not going to be unfair to anyone, we don’t plan to attack any country. But if anyone shows greed and wants to attack or harass, the Iranian nation will deal a heavy blow to them.’
Since public protests first broke out against the Iranian regime, nearly 50,000 people have been detained, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency.
At least 6,713 people are thought to have been killed, the vast majority of them protesters.
President Trump was asked during a flight to Florida on Saturday what his ‘final decision’ would be on Iran, but declined to answer.
He told reporters: ‘I certainly can’t tell you that, but we do have very big, powerful ships heading in that direction, as you know. I can’t tell you, you know. But I hope they negotiate something that’s acceptable.’
Asked whether Tehran would be emboldened by the US backing off, he said: ‘Well, some people think that and some people don’t. And if you could make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory with no nuclear weapons, they should do that.
‘But I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us.’
