Updated

Iranian officials have expressed growing concern that intensified US pressure could trigger a new wave of domestic unrest, according to reporting on the mood inside the Islamic Republic's ruling establishment. Battered by the recent war, the country faces a sharply deteriorating economic situation and a bleak outlook for ordinary Iranians. Officials quoted say the public could take to the streets in mass protest if living conditions worsen further, a scenario the leadership is keen to avoid as it weighs its options in the standoff with Washington. The assessment comes as the US-Iran memorandum of understanding lapses and Washington signals it may tighten sanctions and other pressure, making the domestic economic front a central variable in Tehran's calculations.