US officials have discussed an attack on Iran as a crackdown on protesters rallying against the country’s authoritarian regime continues.

President Donald Trump warned that if Tehran ‘violently kills peaceful protesters,’ America ‘will come to their rescue’

Iran says it has hanged a man who spied for Israel and is ready for a new military confrontation as it struggles to tamp down domestic unrest.

The army vowed to intervene, as security services stepped up warnings against protesters and reports of deadly force mounted.

Iran army chief threatens preemptive military action after President Donald Trump warned the U.S. is "locked and loaded" if the regime kills protesters.

These gestures belong to a long and checkered tradition of American regime-change adventurism, but they may be very useful in influencing risk calculations within Iran’s military. Iran is not held together by one coercive institution but by two.

In a speech on Thursday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused protesters of acting on behalf of US President Donald Trump and vowed his government would not back down. The regime has accused foreign forces and “terrorists” of stoking the protests.

From Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to imprisoned activists, Iran's potential successors remain unclear. Opposition figures debate who could unify after regime change.