The Times of Israel reports: “Senior officials in Iran have acknowledged that the country has reportedly been ‘thrust into survival mode’ amid growing and increasingly violent protests against the Islamic Republic’s regime.

At least 17 people have been killed during a week of unrest in Iran, a rights group said on Sunday, as protests spread across the country, sparking violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Deaths and arrests have been reported throughout the week, both by state media and rights groups, though the figures differed.

The protests are the biggest in three years. Some senior figures have struck a softer tone than in some previous bouts of unrest, at a moment of vulnerability for Iran with the economy in tatters and international pressure building.

After US President Donald Trump threatened to intervene if Iran killed peaceful protesters on Friday, the country’s Supreme National Security Council held a meeting to discuss how to temper the protests without reacting violently and avoid fueling the rage toward the regime, three Iranian officials familiar with government deliberations told The New York Times on Sunday…”