The BBC reports on the deteriorating situation in Iran, as anti-government demonstrations have reached a fever pitch, with open riots in several cities across the country as security forces use less-than-lethal munitions, and in some cases, live-ammunition on protestors, specifically in the major cities of Mashhad, Shiraz, and Tehran.

“One doctor from Iran, who contacted the BBC via Starlink satellite internet on Friday night, said Farabi Hospital, Tehran's main eye specialist centre, had gone into crisis mode, with emergency services overwhelmed. Non-urgent admissions and surgeries were said to have been suspended, and staff called in to deal with emergency cases.”

“The BBC also obtained a video and audio message from a medic in a hospital in the south-west city of Shiraz on Thursday. The medic said large numbers of injured people were being brought in, and the hospital did not have enough surgeons to cope with the influx. He claimed many of the wounded had gunshot injuries to the head and eyes.”

Crowds of several thousand protesters at the Iranian Embassy in London have begun to scale the building, as one man can be seen tearing down the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran and replacing it with the Lion and Sun Flag, representing the Imperial State of Iran prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Footage purported to show anti-government demonstrations continuing tonight in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

NetBlocks shows that the nationwide internet blackout in Iran is continuing into the night Saturday, as the country has now been offline for more than 48 hours, with the only outside access for most protesters being Starlink.

Despite what some accounts and individuals are claiming, there has been no major airlift by the U.S. Air Force to the Middle East in the last few days that would suggest imminent military action against Iran, especially nothing like what we saw last year prior to the Twelve-Day War between Israel and Iran. The only significant movement observed recently in the region, was the arrival this week of 12 F-15E Strike Eagles as part of a regularly scheduled deployment to the U.S. Central Command’s Area-of-Responsibility.

President Donald J. Trump states that the United States stands ready to “help” those looking for freedom in Iran.

Senior officials in the Trump Administration have had preliminary discussions about how to carry out an attack on Iran if needed to follow through on threats made by President Donald J. Trump, including what sites might be targeted, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.

One option being discussed is a large-scale aerial strike on multiple Iranian military targets, one of the officials said. Another of the officials said there wasn’t a consensus on what course of action to take, and no military equipment or personnel had been moved in preparation for a strike. Officials cautioned these conversations are part of normal planning and there is no sign of an imminent attack on Iran.

The United States is currently carrying out strikes against ISIS in Syria, an official tells Reuters.

Massive crowds of anti-government protesters seen marching and demonstrating tonight in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Anti-government protesters block major roadways and intersections tonight in the high-class luxury neighborhood of Punak in Northern Tehran, with crowd estimates of between 100-200,000.

Footage published by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) showing mission preparations at airbases in the Middle East as well as airstrikes against sites belonging to the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, the second round of strikes carried out under last month’s Operation Hawkeye Strike.

Over 20 military aircraft with both the U.S. and Royal Jordanian Air Force, including American F-15Es, A-10s, AC-130Js, MQ-9s and Jordanian F-16s, participated in tonight’s second round of strikes against ISIS-affiliated sites across Syria in support Operation Hawkeye Strike, utilizing over 90 precision munitions to strike more than 35 targets, officials have told Al-Arabiya.

Several government offices and other buildings burn Thursday night in the Nezam Abad Neighborhood of Central Tehran, set ablaze by crowds of anti-government protesters estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands across the capital of Iran.

A woman in her mid-60s and a 70-year-old man described seeing people of all ages out in the streets of the Iranian capital on Thursday and Friday. On Friday night, however, security forces brandishing military rifles killed “many people,” they told CNN.

An Iranian doctor in the northeastern city of Neyshabur said in an audio message shared with pro-reform news outlet IranWire that Iranian authorities used “military rifles” to kill “at least 30 people” there yesterday. “Among them were children,” the doctor said. “A 5-year-old child was shot while in their mother’s arms.”

CORRECTION: This footage is actually from Thursday night’s protest in Eastern Tehran and not from tonight like some outlets are claiming, with footage yesterday from Iran International showing the results of the fire, which targeted the General Tax Administration Office.

Conservative estimates from Iran International claim that upward of 2,000 protesters have been killed over the last two days in Iran.

Footage from Kahrizak, south of the Iranian capital of Tehran, shows more than two dozen full body bags at a collection point, claimed to be protesters killed over the last two nights by security forces, with sources on the ground reporting that there are at least 200 dead just in Tehran.

People on the ground in Iran describe what is being seen during the anti-government protests in cities like Tehran and Shiraz as like a war zone, “I have never seen such scenes in my life,” medical staff is heard saying in a video shared with IranWire. “The shameless people shot (her) in the head and neck. Do you have any idea how many patients we have until now?”

A doctor in Neyshabur said security forces shot at protesters from the top of buildings on Friday. “They are shooting from rooftops and terraces. They are not on the street where people can see and run away,” she says in an audio message to IranWire. “They even shoot at ordinary pedestrians.” The doctor said a family of six passing by was shot – so was an elderly woman’s nurse as she was on her way home in Neyshabur.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump has been briefed in recent days on new options for military strikes in Iran, including strikes on nonmilitary sites in Tehran, as he seriously considers authorizing a strike in response to the Iranian Regime’s brutal crackdown on ongoing nationwide anti-government protests, with reports suggesting hundreds if not thousands already dead, according to multiple U.S. officials familiar with the matter who spoke to The New York Times.

Reminder that there is not a single U.S. Carrier Strike Group currently deployed to the Middle East, and the closest carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72), is in the South China Sea and would take several days if not a week to reach Iran. It is extremely unlikely and incredibly risky to launch strikes against Iran without a carrier - or two - in the region, so if Trump does order a strike against Iran, it likely won’t take place for at least a week and preparations would be very evident from movements by the U.S. Navy and Air Force.

Unlike their response last June to American airstrikes against their nuclear facilities, which was quite measured and meant to not invoke serious retaliation from the United States, launching easily intercept-able ballistic missiles at only one base in Qatar; the Iranian response to strikes carried out during these protests would be anything but measured, as the strikes would be seen as a direct threat to the existence of the Iranian Regime. Iran would likely retaliate with drone and missile attacks against dozens of U.S. military bases and other sites across the Middle East, something which the current U.S. military presence in the region would be unable to fully defend against, potentially resulting in the death of untold numbers of American Servicemembers.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, has stated that if the United States carries out strikes against Iran, they will target Israel and American military bases across the Middle East.