Iran protests: Tehran ready for 'war and dialogue' with US

Iran has had a long history of protest movements in the modern era that have shaped and re-shaped the country.

Two of the most significant were the 1953 plot to overthrow Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and the 1979 revolution that deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and brought about the Islamic Republic.

The 1953 coup plot was the result of Operation Ajax, a US plan, with British support, to remove the prime minister who had nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, along with several other major reforms.

The plot was successful and saw the consolidation of power under Pahlavi, but it also created distrust of the US and the shah who was seen as their puppet.

Anger against the shah and the lack of freedoms in the country eventually boiled over into widespread protests that included socialist, democratic and religious groups. The resulting revolution saw Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini take power and institute the Islamic Republic as a theocracy.

Since then, there have been many protest movements, especially among young Iranians who make up the majority of the population.

The most significant were the 1999 student protests over the closure of a reformist newspaper that resulted in several deaths and hundreds of arrests.

The 2009 Green Movement against the election of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad saw millions take to the street, with social media having been used as a key tool to organize the protests. Dozens were killed and thousands were arrested.

Economic protests in 2019 quickly turned into broader anti-government protests. The regime responded by shutting off the internet and launching a violent crackdown.

Just three years later, the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests rocked the country following the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. The mass protests proved to be a major challenge to the regime, although it ultimately survived.

Despite a period of relative stability after the revolution, protest movements have seen an intensification in recent years, with economic hardship worsening and memories of previous government crackdowns alive in the social consciousness.

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Anti-government protesters have again flooded the streets of Iran, despite the authorities resorting to lethal force against them.

Human-rights groups are reporting hundreds of deaths.

The son of Iran's last shah is positioning himself as a voice of transition as protests continue across the country.

But Reza Pahlavi's role in a democratic Iran remains to be seen.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said it is against foreign intervention in response to a question about Trump's threats against Iran.

"We have always opposed interference in other countries' internal ​affairs and consistently advocated that the sovereignty and security of ⁠all ​nations should be fully protected by international law," ‌ministry spokesperson ‌Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing.

"We call on all parties to do more things conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East," she added.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has condemned the violent repression of the Iranian protests by the regime's security forces.

He called the response of the state to the demonstrations "disproportionate" and "brutal."

"I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population instead of threatening them," the chancellor said during a visit to India.

"We condemn in the strongest terms possible the violence that the leadership in Iran is exercising against its own people," he added. "This violence must end."

Merz also praised the courage of the protesters, saying it is their right to protest peacefully for freedom.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that Iran was prepared for conflict with the US following threats of intervention, but that it was also open for negotiations.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war," Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran broadcast by state TV.

"We are also ready for negotiations but these negotiations should be fair, with equal rights and based on mutual respect."

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said that a "meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting."

"Iran called, they want to negotiate," Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson ‌Esmaeil ⁠Baghaei confirmed on Monday that lines of communication with Washington remained open.

Araghchi also blamed foreign elements for the current protests, saying they purposefully "turned violent and bloody to give an excuse" to the US to intervene.

The Iranian state has continued to violently put down the fortnight-long protests that have shaken the foundations of the theocratic regime.

The internet has been cut off for several days, making it difficult to get clear reports from the ground.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has reported that 10,600 people have been arrested and that more than 540 people have been killed, the vast majority of them protesters.

The protests have also seen the US under President Donald Trump threaten to intervene, months after it carried out major strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities during a short war with Israel.