Trump threatens U.S. intervention if Iran violently suppresses ongoing protests, escalating tensions after last year's 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

Iran is experiencing a countrywide shutdown triggered by intensifying protests and a deepening political and economic crisis. This government-ordered shutdown has impacted businesses, educational institutions,

Officials said that leaders were in survival mode amid anti-government protests and the prospect of again coming into the cross hairs of Israel and the United States.

Both the semi-official Fars news agency and human rights group, Hengaw, said two people had died during clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Lordegan, in south-western Iran. Three more people were killed in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, Fars reported, all in the west of the country.

Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's capture deals devastating blow to Iran's Western Hemisphere interests, experts say, weakening Tehran's anti-American alliance in South America.

Tehran also increasingly cut back its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, as tensions increased over its nuclear program in recent years. The IAEA's director-general has warned Iran could build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program.

Iran’s military warned it will crush any hostile act after the president said the country is effectively at war with the U.S.