Ayatollah Khamenei plans to flee to Moscow if Iran unrest intensifies

Intelligence files obtained by The Times reveal that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has devised a fallback strategy to flee the country should his security apparatus fail to contain the growing dissent.

If the army and police forces ordered to suppress the unrest begin deserting or defecting, the 86-year-old intends to escape Tehran with a retinue of up to 20 family members and aides, the British outlet reported.

"The 'plan B' is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba," an intelligence source confirmed to The Times.

Beni Sabti, a veteran of Israeli intelligence, told the newspaper that Khamenei would retreat to Moscow because "there is no other place for him" to find sanctuary.

The evacuation blueprint mirrors the actions of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who flew to Moscow to join his family just before opposition forces seized Damascus in December 2024, the report noted.