Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a plan to flee the country for Russia if ongoing protests in the country overwhelm his security forces, according to a report.
At least 35 people have died in the violence engulfing Iran, according to the latest figures from a US-based monitoring group. The Human Rights Activists News Agency said four children were among those killed and that more than 1,200 people had been detained in the week-long protests.
Khamenei, 86, will escape Tehran with up to 20 aides and family if it becomes clear that the army and security forces tasked with suppressing the protests are defecting or failing to follow orders, an intelligence source told The Times.
“The ‘plan B’ is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba,” the source said.
The protests have largely focused on the collapse of the country’s currency, with some demonstrators calling for the overthrow of the Ayatollah. The semi-official Fars news agency, which has close links to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported late on Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations.
Mr Khamenei would likely flee to Moscow as it is his only remaining option, according to Beni Sabti, an operative who served in Israeli intelligence for decades after fleeing the regime eight years after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
The Ayatollah “admires Putin, while the Iranian culture is more similar to the Russian culture”, and he would therefore choose Russia if he were forced to flee the country, the source said.
His plan includes an “exit route out of Tehran should they feel the need to escape” and includes “gathering assets, properties abroad and cash to facilitate their safe passage”, according to the newspaper.
Tehran’s efforts to quell a wave of anti-government protests have so far been unsuccessful, and are now further complicated by Donald Trump’s threat to intervene on behalf of the protests.
His warning was firmly underlined by the subsequent US capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, officials and insiders said on Monday.
But the protests do not yet match the scale of unrest that swept the nation in 2022-23 over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the hijab law.
The protests have nonetheless expanded quickly from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting “Down with the Islamic Republic” or “Death to the dictator”, a reference to Mr Khamenei.
Authorities have said protests over the economy are legitimate and will be met by dialogue, but security forces have reacted brutally. Human rights groups accuse them of “indiscriminate targeting of civilians”.
Widening disparities between ordinary Iranians and a privileged clerical and security elite, compounded by mismanagement, high inflation and corruption, have fuelled public anger.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged dialogue and promised reforms to stabilise the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power.
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