Iran’s leadership is increasingly worried that a U.S. strike could weaken its grip on power by driving an already enraged public back into the streets, following a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests, according to six current and former officials.
In high-level meetings, officials told Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that public anger over last month’s crackdown — the bloodiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — has reached a point where fear is no longer a deterrent, four current officials briefed on the discussions said.
The officials said Khamenei was warned that many Iranians were prepared to confront security forces again and that external pressure, such as a limited U.S. strike, could embolden them and inflict irreparable damage on the political establishment.
One of the officials told Reuters that Iran’s enemies were seeking renewed protests to bring the Islamic Republic to an end and that “unfortunately” there would be more violence if an uprising occurred.
“An attack combined with demonstrations by angry people could lead to a collapse of the ruling system,” the official said. “That is the main concern among the top officials, and that is what our enemies want.” Like the others, the official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The reported remarks are significant because they suggest private misgivings within the leadership that contrast with Tehran’s defiant public stance toward protesters and the United States.
The sources declined to say how Khamenei responded. The Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the account of the meetings.
Multiple sources told Reuters last week that U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces and senior leaders to inspire protests, even as Israeli and Arab officials said air power alone would not topple the clerical leadership.
'People are extremely angry,' says former official
Any such uprising following a U.S. strike would contrast with the public response to Israeli and U.S. bombing attacks on Iran’s nuclear program in June, which were not followed by anti-government demonstrations.
But a former senior moderate official said the situation had changed since the crackdown in early January.
IRGC in Tehran
“People are extremely angry,” he said, adding that a U.S. attack could push Iranians back into the streets. “The wall of fear has collapsed. There is no fear left.”
Tensions between Tehran and Washington remain high. The arrival of a U.S. aircraft carrier and supporting warships in the Middle East has expanded Trump’s ability to take military action, after repeatedly threatening intervention over Iran’s crackdown.
'The game is over,' says former prime minister
Several opposition figures who were once part of the establishment have warned the leadership that what they described as “boiling public anger” could lead to the collapse of the Islamic system.
“The river of warm blood spilled in the cold month of January will not stop boiling until it changes the course of history,” former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi, who has been under house arrest without trial since 2011, said in a statement published by the pro-reform Kalameh website.
“In what language should people say they do not want this system and do not believe your lies? Enough is enough. The game is over,” Mousavi said.
During the early January protests, witnesses and rights groups said security forces crushed demonstrations with lethal force, killing thousands and wounding many others. Tehran blamed the violence on “armed terrorists” linked to Israel and the United States.
Trump ultimately stopped short of intervening militarily but later demanded nuclear concessions from Iran. Both Tehran and Washington have signaled openness to reviving diplomacy over the long-running nuclear dispute.
Simmering anger, 'danger of bloodshed'
Analysts and insiders say that while the streets are quiet for now, deep-seated grievances remain.
Public frustration has been simmering over economic decline, political repression, a widening gap between rich and poor, and entrenched corruption that leaves many Iranians feeling trapped in a system offering neither relief nor a path forward.
“This may not be the end, but it is no longer just the beginning,” said Hossein Rassam, a London-based analyst.
Dead protesters in Tehran
If protests resume amid mounting foreign pressure and security forces respond with force, the six current and former officials said they fear demonstrators would be bolder than in past unrest, driven by experience and a sense they have little left to lose.
One official told Reuters that while public anger is deeper than before, the establishment would use harsher methods if it were under U.S. attack. He warned the result would be a bloodbath.
Ordinary Iranians contacted by Reuters said they expected authorities to crack down hard on any renewed protests.
A Tehran resident whose 15-year-old son was killed during the protests on Jan. 9 said demonstrators had only sought a normal life and were answered “with bullets.”
“If America attacks, I will go back into the streets to take revenge for my son and for the children this regime killed,” he said.