Washington. President Donald Trump took the unusual step on Friday of thanking the Iranian government for not following through on executions of what he said were meant to be hundreds of political prisoners.

“Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, adding that he “greatly respected” the move.

The sentiment seemed to back away from Trump’s recent repeated suggestions that the United States might strike Iran militarily if its government triggered mass killings during widespread protests that swept that country, but now have quieted.

Over the past two days, several Middle Eastern allies of the US have urged the Trump administration to hold off on striking, fearing such action would destabilize an already volatile region as well as the global economy.

In a separate development, exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi encouraged Iranians to take to the streets again this weekend, just as the nationwide protests had been smothered following the killing of more than at least 2,600 protesters by Iranian security forces.

In a post on X, the son of the deposed king urged his “brave compatriots” to “raise your voices of anger and protest” from Saturday to Monday.

“The world sees your courage and will offer clearer and more practical support to your national revolution,” Pahlavi said in the post.

His comments came after Iran had returned to uneasy calm after a wave of protests that drew a bloody crackdown and warnings of massive executions to come for the thousands detained across the country.

Trump had also encouraged the protests to continue earlier in the week, saying “help was on the way.”

Days later, Trump backed off on his threats after saying he got assurances that the killings had stopped and executions would be halted.