Pezeshkian apologizes over crackdown as nation marks 1979 Islamic Revolution

A cleric crosses an intersection in downtown Tehran [AP Photo]

Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution yesterday as the country’s theocracy remains under pressure, both from U.S. President Donald Trump who suggested sending another aircraft carrier group to the Middle East and a public angrily denouncing Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

The commemoration represented a spit-screen view of life in Iran, with state television showing tens of thousands of people across the country attending pro-government rallies, which included the burning of American flags and cries of “Death to America!”

Meanwhile, President Masoud Pezeshkian got on stage at Azadi Square in Tehran and apologized to “all those affected” by protests and the crackdown, while denouncing “Western propaganda.”

He insisted that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program as fledgling nuclear talks with America hang in the balance.

Whether the talks succeed remains an open question — and Mideast nations fear their collapse could plunge the region into another regional war. A top Iranian security official traveled Qatar yesterday after earlier visiting Oman, which has mediated this latest round of negotiations. Just before the official’s arrival, Qatar’s ruling emir received a phone call from Trump.

In his speech at the anniversary ceremony, Pezeshkian also insisted that his nation was “not seeking nuclear weapons. … and are ready for any kind of verification.” However, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile.

“The high wall of mistrust that the United States and Europe have created through their past statements and actions does not allow these talks to reach a conclusion,” Pezeshkian said.

Yet moments later, he added: “At the same time, we are engaging with full determination in dialogue aimed at peace and stability in the region alongside our neighboring countries.”

Commemoration overshadowed by crackdown

On Iranian state TV, authorities broadcast images of tens of thousands of people taking to the streets across the country to support the theocracy and its 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

But on Tuesday night, as government-sponsored fireworks lit the darkened sky, witnesses heard shouts from people’s homes in the Iranian capital, Tehran, of “Death to the dictator!”

In the streets yesterday, people waved images of Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Some chanted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Among Iran’s 85 million people, there is a hard-line element of support for Iran’s theocracy, including members of the country’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which crucially put down the protests last month in a bloody suppression that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained, according to activists.

Also, many Iranians often take part in pro-theocracy demonstrations as they are government employees or turn up to enjoy the carnival atmosphere of a government-sponsored holiday.

While not directly addressing the bloodshed by authorities, Pezeshkian acknowledged the crackdown that began in earnest on Jan. 8 had “caused great sorrow.”

“We are ashamed before the people, and we are obligated to assist all those who were harmed in these incidents,” he said. “We are not seeking confrontation with the people.”

However, he also criticized what he described as “Western propaganda” over the crackdown.

As the commemoration took place, senior Iranian security official Ali Larijani left Oman for Qatar. That Mideast nation hosts a major U.S. military installation that Iran attacked in June after the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

Qatar also has been a key negotiator in the past with Iran, with which it shares a massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf. Its state-run Qatar News Agency reported that ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani spoke with Trump about “the current situation in the region and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and strengthening regional security and peace,” without elaborating.

Speaking to the Russian state channel RT, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran still does “not have full trust for the Americans.”

“Last time we negotiated, last June we were in the middle of negotiation then they decided to attack us and that was a very very bad experience for us,” Iran’s top diplomat said. “We need to make sure that that scenario is not repeated and this is mostly up to America.”

Despite that concern, Araghchi said it could be possible “to come to a better deal than Obama,” referencing the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers Iran reached when former U.S. President Barack Obama was in office. Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from the accord.

Trump’s sending another carrier to Mideast

The United States has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the Islamic Republic should Trump choose to do so.

Already, U.S. forces shot down a drone they said got too close to the Lincoln and came to the aid of a U.S.-flagged ship that Iranian forces tried to stop in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Trump told the news website Axios that he was considering sending a second carrier to the region, noting, “We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going.” JON GAMBRELL, DUBAI, MDT/AP