Cartoon by Vincent Chevalley

Can the US help Iran? What Iranians say - inside and outside the country

Leyla Khodabakhshi,Washington, DC,Grace Eliza Goodwin,New York CityandRegan Morris,Los Angeles

BBC: For Mojdeh and her husband, the question of US intervention in Iran is personal.

In early January, they travelled from their home in Washington, DC to Tehran to visit family - expecting a short, routine trip. Instead, protests spread, flights were cancelled and they found themselves stranded in a city that no longer felt predictable.

"Life was on pause," Mojdeh said, especially at night, when the internet and even phone networks went dark.

They did not plan to protest. But on the nights of 7 and 8 January, she said, it was impossible to remain uninvolved.

"If you left your house, you saw it," she said. The BBC has changed her name to protect her and her husband's identities.

One evening, after eating in a restaurant, they stepped outside to find the city transformed: Crowds filled the streets and in some areas, security forces appeared to have lost control.

"It felt like people had occupied Tehran," she said.

Protests erupted across Iran just before the new year, driven by anger over economic hardship and a collapsing currency, but quickly escalated into calls for an end to the Islamic Republic. Days later, security forces responded with deadly force.

The true death toll is difficult to verify, due to an internet blackout in Iran and the lack of independent reporting. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it confirmed more than 6,000 protesters dead, while Norway-based Iran Human Rights said the final toll could exceed 25,000. Iranian authorities said at least 3,117 people were killed, but claimed most were members of security forces or bystanders, blaming the deaths on "rioters."

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced support for Iranian protesters. On Friday, US and Iranian officials held talks, though expectations remain low. Onboard Air Force One later in the day, Trump said the talks were "very good", and that Iran "looks like it wants to make a deal very badly".

Mojdeh's voice faltered as she described her homeland during the protests: people running, shouting, beaten - scenes that stayed with her long after they managed to leave Iran.

Her husband was shocked for another reason: Among friends and family in Iran, the idea of US military involvement was not considered an attack, he said. It was "help".

The couple, living safely in the US, understand the desperation, but remain sceptical that such action could deliver what protesters ultimately want - not just regime change, but dignity, economic security and freedom.

From a distance, they worry about the cost of mistaking destruction for salvation >>>