The regime may have been able to crush the latest wave of protests using its tried-and-tested playbook of repression. But the fundamental grievances animating protesters haven’t gone away.

There is currently no aircraft carrier in the Middle East, although officials say there are six Navy ships, including three missile destroyers. The Pentagon declined to comment.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has built his 37-year rule on uncompromising repression. His answer to the current protests is no different.

Emerging on Tuesday from a late-night Situation Room meeting to discuss options for striking Iran, some of President Donald Trump’s top national security officials were relatively sure a decision on military action was close at hand.

The bloody reprisals against protesters are the culmination of decades in which the regime’s "propensity and ability to use violence" has only increased, analysts say.

Iran's ethnic minorities, comprising nearly 50% of the population, could prove decisive in ongoing anti-regime protests as Kurdish groups lead resistance.

Reza Pahlavi told TIME that protesters in Iran are counting on the U.S. President to intervene as the regime kills demonstrators by the thousands.