Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei plans to flee to Moscow if protests do not stop - The Times

Iran's supreme political and spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, plans to flee the country to Moscow with his inner circle if protests in the country do not subside and become even stronger. This is reported by UNN with reference to The Times.

Details

The escape plan is based on the example of his ally, the overthrown Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who fled Damascus by plane to Moscow, where his family was. This happened at the end of 2024, when the opposition stormed the Syrian capital.

Khamenei owns a large network of assets, some of which belong to one of Iran's most influential organizations, Setad. It is part of a system of semi-state charitable foundations known for their financial opacity. The total value of assets is $95 billion, including real estate and companies owned and controlled by Khamenei.

Also, according to the publication, Khamenei admires Putin and believes that Iranian culture is much closer to Russian culture.

At the same time, Khamenei has weakened "both physically and mentally" after the recent 12-day war with Israel. He has hardly appeared in public and, notably, has not been seen or spoken out during the last few days of protests.

Additionally

Ali Khamenei was born in 1939 in the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran. By ethnic origin, he is Azerbaijani: he studied at the Shiite spiritual academy in Mashhad, and later moved to the city of Qom, which is a sacred city for Shiites. There he met Ruhollah Khomeini - the future Ayatollah, who would rule Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989.

For their activities, both figures were persecuted by the special services of the regime of Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Khomeini spent some time in France, and Khamenei was arrested and tortured by the secret police SAVAK (later replaced by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - ed.).

In 1981, Khamenei survived an assassination attempt, as a result of which he lost the ability to use one hand. After the death of Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, he became Ayatollah, that is, the Supreme Political and Spiritual Leader of Iran.

Recall

US President Donald Trump previously stated that if Iran tries to build up its forces, Washington will "kick its ass."