Iran crisis live: Tehran holds pro-government rally as regime seeks to downplay protests amid fears of US escalation

State TV showed crowds of people on Monday streaming through the streets of the capital ‘The streets are full of blood’: Iranian protests gather momentum as regime cracks downIranian student killed during protests was shot in head ‘from close range’Analysis: Unpredictable Trump weighs up Iranian pleas for help against calls for restraintPeople in Iran: share your views on the current situationIran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, has said communication lines with the US remain open, as the Trump administration continues to weigh the option of military strikes.“This channel of communication between our foreign minister (Abbas Araghchi) and the special envoy of the president of the United States is open,” Baghaei said, in apparent reference to Steve Witkoff.Always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of...