PARIS: 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.
