Protesters in Iran are begging US President Donald Trump to launch military action to help topple the Islamic regime, with Iranians telling the ABC people are writing "President Trump please help" on walls across the country.
The desperate pleas come as Mr Trump warned a United States Navy carrier strike group was poised to carry out attacks on the regime.
Iran has been under a severe internet blackout for weeks, in an attempt by the Islamic government to curb protests that gripped the country.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has said it had confirmed the killing of 6,373 people in the brutal crackdown on anti-regime demonstrators by Iranian security forces, including 214 affiliated with the government.
But a group of doctors gathering information from their colleagues inside Iran believe as many as 30,000 people have been killed.
Videos seen by the ABC show that small groups of Iranians are taking part in small acts of resistance, dancing and chanting at the funerals of those killed in the protests.
It is not clear how widespread these actions are, but the ABC has spoken to two people inside Iran who have broken through the communication restrictions to detail the horrors they have witnessed under the crackdown.
They have also spoken about Iranian appeals for US intervention, as the world waits to see if Mr Trump may heed the calls.
A military expert has warned the US president may be planning an "overwhelming strike that would really decapitate the regime from the start".
Acts of resistance
When protests in Iran broke out on December 28 over the country's collapsing economy, they quickly turned into rallies against the regime.
In the weeks since, there has been a brutal crackdown on the protesters, but in some parts of the country, including the south, Iranians are taking part in small acts of resistance.
In videos seen by the ABC, but not independently verified, Iranians gathered at the funerals of some of those killed in protests can be seen dancing, beating their chests and chanting in defiance of state repression.
People can be heard in one video shouting, "Triumph is near" and, "This crushed flower is a sacrifice for the homeland."
According to the opposition Persian-language TV station Iran International in London, it is not customary to see people dancing and chanting at funerals, where traditionally "mournful music, Islamic sermons and Quranic recitations" are "weaponised" into acts of "national resistance" in the repressive theocratic system.
It reports that these acts at burials are not a denial of loss but a form of protest among families who have lost loved ones.
"For the Islamic Republic, that is a very worrying thing, that instead of these people mourning and being traumatised by what has happened, which they are to an extent, they're celebrating," Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, told the outlet.
"And that means to me and signifies that this is a people that's no longer afraid of the Islamic Republic."
Some Iranians 'waiting for Trump'
The scenes unfolding at Iranian funerals come as other Iranians call on the United States to help them.
Maryam, who asked the ABC to use a pseudonym to protect her safety, said she saw people spray painting "Please Help Us President Trump" on buildings in Isfahan, the country's third-largest city.
"Everyone is waiting for Trump to take action. Trump is our only hope," she said.
"Iranians need outside help to overthrow this dictatorship. The people of Iran, with bare hands, cannot fight a criminal regime that has shown no mercy even to its own people."
Maryam said she believed a targeted US strike would provide a morale boost to the protesters that could help oust the current regime.
"Time is critical, people are waiting — like fire beneath ashes, ready to rise and bring down the regime," she said.
"The only hope is Trump — to destroy the regime and remove [Supreme Leader] Khameni, the executioner who ordered mass murder."
A new mural warning the US not to launch a military strike on Iran was unveiled in a square in central Tehran, ahead of the arrival of US warships in the region.
The painted image features damaged planes on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier with the slogan: "If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind," in Farsi and English.
But Iranian protester Zarah, who also asked to use a pseudonym, said Iranians she had been speaking to were hoping the US would launch a targeted attack against the Islamic Regime.
She took part in the deadly demonstrations that gripped Tehran over several days.
"I am filled with anger and disbelief, how can a government kill its own people for protesting?" she asked.
"People are exhausted, inflation is unbearable, life has become suffocating.
"Violence may silence people temporarily, but it cannot erase their anger.
"The people are waiting to be heard, waiting for change, determined to rise again.
"What I saw was not order, it was oppression and oppression cannot last forever."
Could the US president be planning an 'overwhelming strike'?
On Thursday, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft arrived in the Middle East, with its 5,000 crew and squadrons of fighter jets and helicopters, providing Mr Trump additional military firepower if he decides to strike Iran.
The United States has a substantial military footprint across the Middle East, which it has amassed over decades, with several permanent bases in the region housing thousands of troops, advanced military hardware, US Air Force units and US Navy fleets.
Currently, there are at least 19 US military facilities across the Middle East, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The US bases are the launch point for air, sea and intelligence missions.
[MAP US military presence]"The USS Lincoln and its fleet of over 50 fighter jets is a substantial force, which would provide the ability to conduct attacks on a constant basis, preventing the Iranians to really regain any type of ability to respond or rebuild their forces," Lieutenant Colonel Maurice Hirsh from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs told the ABC.
"That's what I think the US is planning.
"An overwhelming strike that would really decapitate the regime from the start and not allow them to respond."
The United Arab Emirates Foreign Ministry said it would not allow its airspace, water or territory to be used for any hostile military actions against Iran, reaffirming its commitment to neutrality and regional stability.
But, several airlines have either cancelled services or changed their routes in the Middle East in anticipation of a US attack and Iranian retaliation.
Iran's first vice president said on Thursday that the country "must be prepared for a state of war".
"Our strategy is that we will never start a war, but if it is imposed, we will defend ourselves," Mohammad Reza Aref said, quoted by state-run media.
He added that Iran was "ready" for negotiations with the United States but said "this time we want guarantees" without giving further details.
Lieutenant Colonel Hirsh said any potential attack by the US would need to be multifaceted and bring about concrete change in the regime, targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran's weapons.
"Iran has focused on replenishing its ballistic missiles since the 12-day war in June and increasing their stockpiles to ensure they have maximum capabilities to attack as many targets as possible, not only in Israel, but in the Middle East region," he said.
"The most immediate strikes would have to include targeting ballistic missile sites and missile factories because that is, obviously, the greatest threat to the region.
"It's the capabilities of the Iranian regime to strike outside of Iran, whether it be Qatar, Saudia Araba, Iraq, Syria, Israel — all of these are potential targets for the Iranians."
Making Iran 'feel cornered' or planning a strike
Last week, after promising "help was on its way", Mr Trump pulled back on his threats against Iran after he heard "on good authority" that the killings in Iran had stopped and more than 800 planned executions had been cancelled.
In recent days, Mr Trump has renewed his threats, warning that any military action would make the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June "look like peanuts".
But it now appears Mr Trump has shifted his focus to demanding Iran enter talks to curb its nuclear weapons program.
"There is still one scenario where Trump is amassing this military build-up to make the regime feel cornered, under severe pressure and without any good options," said Burcu Ozcelik, senior research fellow for the Middle East at the Royal United Services Institute.
"In order to encourage regime officials to come back to the negotiating table and agree to concessions, particularly on its nuclear and its ballistic missile program."
But Mr Burcu said Mr Trump's comments indicated action was imminent.
"There is significance to the fact Trump tweeted help is on the way to protesters, to walk that back now, would be seen as a failure from the Trumpian point of view," Dr Ozcelik told the ABC.
"And would create a poor precedent in terms of what not only Iranians but regional allies can expect from the US in the future.
"The extent of the military build-up in the Gulf at its current tempo and scale suggests that a military strike of some nature is highly likely.
"Whether that's going to be a sustained campaign or whether it's a one-off high visibility strike against a high value target, I think that's the variable that we'll be watching."
Dr Ozcelik said the threats from the US had gone beyond posturing.
"It's possible that the US military might be authorised to take out key command and control nodes in the Iranian security apparatus, after President Trump warned the regime not to kill its own citizens on the streets," he said.
"Leadership decapitation has been a tool of the US and Israeli military, so it's plausible that might happen."
Dr Ozcelik warned that parallels with the US military operation in Venezuela and the capture of Nicholas Maduro were limited, because Iran was far more complex.
"If the objective is regime change then that's going to be very difficult to achieve through airstrikes alone," he said.
"There would need to be a sustained campaign and potentially troops on the ground."
Mr Trump said that had a "big impact" on his decision not to strike Iran that week.
US allies including Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar also reportedly warned Mr Trump not to attack Iran over fears it could lead to a broader regional conflict.
Türkiye was set to offer to mediate talks between the US and Iran on Friday, officials said.
On Saturday, the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned the US and Israel to "avoid any miscalculation", and said that the force was "more ready than ever, finger on the trigger".
Mr Trump has repeatedly warned that US will take "very strong action" against Iran if it executes protesters its security forces have arrested.
