• Araghchi says Iran not seeking war but fully prepared for it.
• Iran fighting a “four-front war”, says Bagher Ghalibaf.
• Ghalibaf warns of “unforgettable lesson” if Iran attacked.
  

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.

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.

Thousands of people filled the capital’s Enghelab (Revolution) Square, brandishing the national flag as prayers were read for victims of what the government has termed “riots”, state TV showed.

Addressing the crowds, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran is fighting a “four-front war”, listing economic war, psychological war, “military war” with the United States and Israel and “today a war against terrorists”, referring to the protests.

Flanked by the slogans “Death to Israel, Death to America” in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach US President Donald Trump “an unforgettable lesson” if Iran were attacked.

Trump said Sunday that Iran’s leadership under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in power since 1989 and now 86, had called him seeking “to negotiate” after he repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily if Tehran killed protesters.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is not seeking war but is fully prepared for war,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran broadcast by state television.

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

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said a channel of communication is open between Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff despite the lack of diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, the foreign minister of Oman, which has on occasion acted as a mediator, met Araghchi in Tehran on Saturday.

Ai, a “genius” chimpanzee who could recognise more than 100 Chinese characters and the English alphabet, has died aged 49, Japanese researchers said.

Ai, which means love in Japanese, took part in studies on perception, learning and memory that advanced our understanding of primate intelligence, the Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior at Kyoto University said in a statement.

She died on Friday from multiple organ failure and ailments related to old age, the school said.

Aside from mastering Chinese characters and the alphabet, Ai could also identify the Arabic numerals from zero to nine and 11 colours, primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa said in 2014.

In one study, Ai was presented with a computer screen displaying the Chinese character for pink, along with a pink square and an alternative purple square. The chimpanzee correctly chose the pink square, Matsuzawa said.

When shown an apple, Ai picked out a rectangle, a circle and a dot on the computer screen to draw a “virtual apple”, he said.

Her high ability made her the subject of a number of scholarly papers and media programmes, including studies published in the journal Nature, and earned her the nickname “genius” in popular media.

The chimpanzee from west Africa arrived at the university in 1977, and in 2000, gave birth to a son Ayumu, whose abilities drew attention to studies of parent-child knowledge transfer, Japan’s Kyodo News said.

Ai’s studies helped to establish “an experimental framework for understanding the chimpanzee mind, providing a crucial foundation for considering the evolution of the human mind,” the Center said.

“Ai was highly curious and actively participated in these studies, revealing various aspects of the chimpanzee mind for the first time.”

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has declared himself the “Acting President of Venezuela” days after a US military operation that led to the capture of the country’s President Nicolas Maduro.

The US president shared what appeared to be an edited Wikipedia-style image on his social media platform, Truth Social, portraying himself as “acting president” alongside his official portrait and title.

The post also named US Vice President JD Vance as the “Vice President of Venezuela.”

However, Venezuela’s actual Wikipedia page does not list Trump as acting president, and no international body has recognised or endorsed the claim.

The post followed the US capture and removal of sitting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown to New York along with his wife to face federal drug trafficking charges. The operation came after months of US pressure, sanctions, and military activity targeting the oil-rich nation.

Addressing a press conference following the attack, Trump announced: “This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American might and competence in American history.” He further said that Washington would run the oil-rich country until a transition takes place.

During the court hearing on Jan 5, Maduro pleaded not guilty in New York federal court to four criminal counts that include narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.

He told the federal judge that he had been “kidnapped” from Venezuela and said: “I’m innocent, I’m not guilty.”

Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.

UN Chief Antonio Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump’s strike, the most dramatic US intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. US Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered his security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room.