Iran protests live: Footage shows violent clampdown on demonstrators continuing with ‘hundreds killed’ as former MI6 chief warns the regime ‘will try and crush’ any uprising

Overnight, Iran’s security services sent threatening texts warning citizens not to participate in the nationwide protests.

One text sent by police read: ‘Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.’

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

‘Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people… refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,’ the text warned.

Donald Trump said he would speaking to Elon Musk, who runs satellite internet firm Starlink, to see if he can help dispel Iran’s internet blackout.

He told reporters on Air Force One: ‘[Musk] is very good at that kind of thing, he has a very good company.

‘In fact I am going to call him as soon as I am finished with you.’

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Iran’s use of ‘disproportionate and brutal violence’ against protesters was ‘a sign of weakness’.

‘We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms,’ he said during a visit to India.

The German leader added: ‘This violence is not an expression of strength, but rather a sign of weakness. This violence must end.’

Communication lines ‌between Tehran and Washington remain open, such as through a ​US special envoy or ​traditional intermediaries ​such as Switzerland, Iranian foreign ministry ⁠spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said ​on Monday.

He was ‍responding, ​via an English translation, to a question about contact with ‍Donald Trump as Tehran faces the biggest protests in years.

Trump said on Sunday that ⁠Iran had called to negotiate its nuclear programme.

⁠Baghaei said that ‘contradictory messages’ had been sent that caused ambiguity and ‍that ⁠Iran remained committed to diplomacy.

Business secretary Peter Kyle has suggested the government will not pursue a ban on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and refused to say whether the UK would support US intervention in Iran.

Speaking to Times Radio this morning, Kyle cited an independent review which he said found proscription for a foreign state organisation would not be ‘appropriate’.

He told the radio outlet: ‘When you look at domestic terror legislation, the way that we proscribe domestic organisations is using domestic legislation.

‘The independent reviewer has said that that isn’t appropriate used for state bodies, but we are looking very closely at these issues.’

However, when later asked by Sky News whether the government would support the US if it attacked Iran, he said: ‘Well there’s a lot of ifs in the question itself, so we have to see how this unfolds. We need to understand specifically what Donald Trump and America is proposing.’

Richard Moore, the former head of MI6, told Radio 4 this morning: ‘What is significant about [these protests] is the geographical reach of it, and the fact that it has drawn in people from all walks of life, that is was driven initially by economic factors.

‘That is because this regime has no answers for its people in the economic sphere. The government is weaker [than in previous years], because its track record of incompetence and economic mismanagement has gone that much further.

‘And, of course, because of the events of the so-called 12-Day War, it has been weakened internationally, with the loss of its proxies around the region.

‘But their capacity for cruelty and repression has not gone away, and they will try and crush [the rebellion]’.

Iran’s foreign minister has claimed the country is ‘fully prepared for war’, but is also ready to negotiate.

‘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 TV.

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

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