A reporter asked the UN whether officials in Iran were threatening arrested protesters with execution after reports of large numbers of deaths in demonstrations. UN spokesperson Steph answered that the UN ‘‘stands firmly against the use of the death penalty in all circumstances’’ and that the organization has previously spoken out about high numbers of executions in Iran.

Steph said she did not have a UN‑verified casualty or execution total to provide and noted that published figures she had seen varied widely, ‘‘from 2,000 to 12,000.’’ She said the UN would follow up and provide clarified figures if and when they can be confirmed.