President Donald Trump on Friday offered rare praise for Iran, saying he was grateful the government had refrained from carrying out what he described as planned mass executions of political detainees.
"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.
He added, "and I greatly respect the fact that they canceled.”
The Republican president also suggested on his social media site that more than 800 people had been set to be executed in Iran, but he said they now won’t be.
"Thank you!” Trump posted.
