The Times: Khamenei has escape plan amid growing protests in Iran

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has developed an evacuation plan in case Iranian security forces fail to suppress the protests, The Times reported, citing an intelligence assessment.

According to the article, the 86-year-old Iranian leader is prepared to flee Tehran with a close entourage of 20 aides and family members if he concludes that the army and security services are beginning to side with the protesters or are no longer carrying out orders.

“Khamenei would flee to Moscow as there is no other place for him,” Beni Sabti, who served for decades in Israeli intelligence after fleeing Iran eight years after the Islamic Revolution, told the newspaper.

The escape plan, The Times notes, is based on the experience of former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 and fled Damascus for Moscow to reunite with his family before the capital was captured.

Protests erupted in Iran in late December amid a sharp devaluation of the national currency. Demonstrations have spread to more than 60 cities across 25 provinces. The largest rallies are taking place in Tehran, while the most violent clashes have been reported in the west and south-west of the country, including the cities of Malekshahi, Kermanshah and Lordegan.

By Vugar Khalilov