President Trump appealed directly to Iranian leadership Tuesday to halt the executions of eight women reportedly facing state-sanctioned death sentences, while prominent Iranian dissidents slammed Pope Leo XIV for staying silent.
Trump posted the plea to Truth Social as U.S. representatives prepare to enter negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program. “To the Iranian leaders, who will soon be in negotiations with my representatives: I would greatly appreciate the release of these women,” Trump wrote. “Do them no harm. It would be a great start to our negotiations.”
The appeal came amid reports that Iran’s regime has already executed thousands of dissidents during its ongoing internal crackdown on political opposition and protests.
Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, one of the most prominent voices against the theocratic government, did not extend the same courtesy to the Vatican. She issued a sharp public challenge to Pope Leo XIV, who has addressed the Iran conflict in broad strokes while stopping short of directly condemning the regime’s treatment of women and protesters.
“When the people who actually claim to speak for God stay quiet, it kinda sounds like God’s on mute,” Alinejad wrote. She asked the pope whether executions of protesters and forced confessions extracted from women constituted a “massacre” or if the Vatican was “still workshopping the language.”
Pope Leo XIV has previously described the conflict in terms of mutual de-escalation. In January, as the regime was carrying out mass killings of Iranian citizens, the pope said his thoughts were with Iran and Syria and called for “patiently nurtured” dialogue. After U.S. military action began, he warned against a “spiral of violence” and urged both sides toward “responsible” diplomacy.
