Mass anti-government protests gripped Iran for a third night, as reports trickled out of a dramatic crackdown and US President Donald Trump weighed military intervention.
Despite an internet blackout, footage showed thousands of Iranian demonstrators taking to the streets, while a human rights group feared a “massacre is unfolding” in response.
Iran warned against US action, threatening to launch retaliatory attacks against American troops and Israel.
The unrest, fueled by economic discontent, creates the most favorable conditions for revolution since 1979, two experts wrote in The Atlantic: Tehran is weakened, and “what keeps it alive is lethal force… Brutality can delay the regime’s funeral, but it’s unlikely to restore its pulse.”