Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke as Israel goes on high alert and Iran faces mounting anti-regime protests.

The Iranian army said on Saturday it would safeguard strategic infrastructure and public property and urged Iranians to thwart "the enemy's plots", as the clerical establishment steps up efforts to quell the country's biggest protests in years.

The president has said he will be “hitting them very hard” if Iranian leaders kill protesters amid widespread demonstrations calling for wholesale changes in the country.

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’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran would strike US military and shipping interests if the United States launched a new attack during the ongoing unrest

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

Iran protests span about 180 cities with deaths and arrests as authorities shift from restraint to force, prompting international reaction and concern over civil rights.

Amid the crackdown on protesters in Iran, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said Washington “supports the brave people”. While Supreme Leader Khamenei alleged a US role in the protests, Trump renewed an earlier threat of military strikes if peaceful protesters are killed.