DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran marked the 47th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday 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 split-screen view of life in Iran, with state television showing hundreds of thousands of people across the country attending pro-government rallies, which included the burning of American flags and cries of “Death to America!” The night before, as government-sponsored fireworks lit the dark sky, witnesses heard shouts from homes in the capital, Tehran, of “Death to the dictator!”

Meanwhile, President Masoud Pezeshkian got on stage at Azadi Square in Tehran and insisted that Iran is willing to negotiate over its nuclear program as fledgling talks with the U.S. 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 met Qatar’s foreign minister in Doha on Wednesday, 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 said Iran was “not seeking nuclear weapons” and is “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. “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

Iranian state TV broadcast images of people taking to the streets across the country Wednesday to support the theocracy and its 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Others criticized Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, who had been calling for anti-government protests.

“I am here to say we don’t stop supporting our leader and our country as the Americans and Israelis are increasingly threatening” us, said Reza Jedi, a 43-year-old participant.

Iranian missiles were on display, as were fragments that authorities described as being from downed Israeli drones. Fake coffins draped in the American flag could also be seen, one bearing the picture of U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of the American military’s Central Command, which covers the Middle East.

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

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