Iran's rulers are confronting their most serious challenge since their own 1979 revolution.
They're now countering on an unprecedented scale - a ferocious security crackdown and near total internet shutdown has been unleashed on a scale unseen in previous crises.
Some of the streets once engulfed by a roar of anger against the regime are now starting to go silent.
On Friday it was extremely crowded - the crowd was unbelievable - and there was a lot of shooting. Then Saturday night it became much, much quieter, a resident of Tehran told BBC Persian.
You would have to have a death wish to go out now, one Iranian journalist reflected.
This time, an internal upheaval is also compounded by an external threat. President Trump's repeated warnings of military action come seven months after the U.S. carried out strikes on key nuclear facilities during a 12-day war between Iran and Israel, which left the regime weakened.
But, to use an analogy often used by the American leader, that has also given Iran another card to play.
Trump now says Tehran has called to go back to the negotiating table. But Iran doesn't have a good hand: President Trump says he may still have to take some kind of action before any meeting; talks won't take all the searing heat out of this unrest.
And Iran won't capitulate to what have been the U.S.'s maximalist demands, including zero nuclear enrichment, which would cross red lines which lie at the very heart of this theocracy's strategic doctrine.
Despite the pressure, there's no sign Iran's leaders are changing course.
Vali Nasr from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies commented, Their inclination is to clamp down, to try to survive this moment, and then to figure out where they go from here.
Even if they quell these protests, they don't have many options to improve the lives of Iranians.
This week may decide the momentum on whether Iran faces more military actions or if brute force suppresses the protests as it has in the past.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated today that the situation is now under total control. However, accounts from physicians and journalists tell a different story, hinting at more severe oppression than ever.
With around 500 deaths reported in the previous unrest phases and numbers climbing in the current situation, the government's crackdown has become a stark reality.
The authority continues to blame foreign enemies for the unrest, amid accusations of infiltration during recent military conflicts.
But the essence of change remains unknown; the protests express deep societal discontent tied to economic hardship and years of mismanagement. The ruling clerics perceive survival of their system to be their utmost priority, even as voices of peaceful reform emerge within the populace.
One prominent voice calling for a response to the protests is Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran, though concerns regarding intervention complicate matters.
As the protests intensify, different factions in Iran grapple with urgent questions on the future direction of the country amidst rising discontent.
