Trump Demands Halted Executions for Iranian Women as Rights Groups Confirm Two Already Released on Bail

President Trump demands Iran cancel executions for 8 women, though rights groups confirm two were already out on bail before the high-profile social media post.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 22, 2026, 7:03 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from AP

A Diplomatic Stand Off Over Reported Capital Sentences

The tension between Washington and Tehran escalated this week following a social media intervention by US President Donald Trump regarding the fate of eight female detainees. Reposting an image originally circulated by a conservative activist, Trump demanded that the Iranian government cancel the purported executions of six women and two teenage girls. This high-profile demand follows months of restricted information flow out of the Islamic Republic, where internet blackouts have made verifying the legal status of political prisoners increasingly difficult for international monitors.

Discrepancies in the Status of Named Detainees

Despite the urgency of the President’s appeal, the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights reported that at least two of the individuals named were not currently in state custody. According to the rights group, Golnar Naraqi, an emergency physician, and Venus Hossein Nejad, a member of the Baha'i faith, were granted bail in late March 2026. Both women had been arrested during the wave of anti-government demonstrations that began in January, which resulted in a significant number of casualties and thousands of arrests across the country.

The Judicial Response from Tehran

The Iranian judiciary moved quickly to counter the narrative presented by the US administration, issuing a statement shortly after the President's post. While the judiciary confirmed that several of the women in the shared photograph had already been released, they did not provide specific names to the public. Furthermore, Iranian legal officials explicitly denied that any of the eight individuals mentioned in the post were currently facing death sentences, characterizing the international concern as a misrepresentation of their legal proceedings.