The story: Iran has marked the 44^th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution with nationwide rallies attended by a claimed more than 20M people. The mass rallies follow the end of months of anti-establishment protests across the country, and as President Ebrahim Raisi has declared that those “deceived” into joining the unrest will be forgiven if they repent. Meanwhile, the appearance of a former spy chief at an opposition rally in the US has sparked reactions on Iranian social media.

The coverage: State-organized rallies were held on Feb. 11 to mark 44 years since the toppling of the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, ending monarchism in Iran.

• As is tradition, major national and all provincial television channels provided wall-to-wall coverage of the rallies and broadcast special programs to mark the occasion.
  
  
• In the absence of an official turnout figure, pro-establishment news agencies claimed that "nearly 21 million people" showed up.
  
  
• Conservative media praised the turnout. Hardline Kayhan daily—whose chief editor is appointed by the supreme leader—wrote the following day that the Iranians who took to...