PARIS, (France): Iranian authorities on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies in the wake of protests on a scale unprecedented in recent years, as alarm grew over a deadly crackdown.
The foreign minister said Iran was ready for both war and talks after repeated threats from Washington to intervene militarily over the crackdown on protests, which activists fear has left at least hundreds dead.
Over two weeks of demonstrations initially sparked by economic grievances have turned into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the Shah.
In a sign of the severity of the crisis, the authorities have imposed an internet blackout lasting more than three-and-a-half days that activists say is aimed at masking the extent of the crackdown.
Seeking to regain the initiative, the government called for rallies nationwide backing the Islamic republic on Monday.
Thousands of people filled the capital’s Enghelab (Revolution) Square brandishing the national flag as prayers were read for victims of what the government has termed “riots”, state TV showed. Addressing the crowds, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran is fighting a “four-front war”, listing economic war, psychological war, “military war” with the United States and Israel and “today a war against terrorists”, referring to the protests.
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