Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly plans to escape to Moscow if his security team falters or turns on him amid ongoing unrest in his country featuring protesters chanting for his death.
Khamenei, 86, will catch a flight with his inner circle, including roughly 20 aides and members of his family, if the Islamic Republic’s army is overwhelmed by the swelling protests – or if the security forces decide to defect, an intelligence source told The Times.
His son and “nominated heir apparent” would also flee, the source said.
Khamenei’s general escape plan mirrors that of fallen Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who fled Damascus by plane and landed in Moscow with his family – while the country’s opposition forces stormed the nation’s capital in December 2024.
“They have plotted an exit route out of Tehran should they feel the need to escape,” which includes “gathering assets, properties abroad and cash to facilitate their safe passage”, the source said.
The relationship between Iran and Russia has warmed in recent years, namely since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, and Khamanei “admires Putin,” the source added.
Tehran has provided Russia with varieties of weapons and even helped construct its Unmanned Aerial System (AUS) factory.
In early 2025, Russia and Iran signed a 20-year strategic partnership treaty, which promised increased defense cooperation and the “counter the application of unilateral coercive measures.”
Russia noted that the treaty did not include an obligation to support Iran’s military.
At least 19 people have been killed in the protests, which have spread to 22 of the Islamic Republic’s 31 provinces.
Many crowds have called for “Death to Khamenei” – but the Ayatollah originally brushed off their vitriol and vowed to put the demonstrators “in their place.”
The widespread protests erupted as Iran suffers from its worst drought in decades,
with more than 10 million people in Tehran regularly deprived of water service.
Iran is also experiencing an unprecedented economic collapse, with a single US dollar now equating to 42,125 Iranian rial.
President Trump said that the US would intervene “if Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters,” noting that such disregard for human lives “is their custom.”
The regime, though, pushed back and said that they would shoot at US troops and treat them as “legitimate targets” in response to Trump’s threat.
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