The nationwide protests across Iran continue without letup, and the Supreme Leader may feel even more uneasy today, having seen with what ease the hated Americans removed Nicolás Maduro from his Caracas office to a New York jail, which came just after Donald Trump warned the embattled regime in Tehran not to kill protesters. Otherwise, Trump said, he was prepared to attack Iran yet again.
More on the Supreme Leader’s plans to escape to Russia if the protests cannot be suppressed can be found here: “Iran’s Khamenei has escape plan to flee to Moscow if regime falls amid protests – report,” by Tobias Holcman, Jerusalem Post, January 5, 2026:
The supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reportedly has an “escape plan” that involves fleeing to Russia if the current nationwide protests continue to intensify, British newspaper The Times reported on Sunday.
The plan, called “Plan B” by the British report, would include 86-year-old Khamenei and 20 close people, including family and aides.
It will also involve a way of taking his vast asset network, which, according to a 2013 Reuters investigation cited by The Times, is valued at about $95 billion, and includes the Setad organization, one of the most powerful organizations in Iran, and the Ayatollah’s system of semi-state charitable foundations known for their financial obfuscation.
If Khamenei absconds to Moscow with tens of billions of dollars that he and his closest cronies have taken from the Iranian treasury, a new regime in Iran should be able to demand that the Russians locate the funds — Russian President Vladimir Putin will have ways to extract such information from his new guest, the no-longer Supreme Leader — and hand them over to the new Iranian government. Or Putin may do nothing, and let Khamenei, like Bashar Assad, keep whatever loot he manages to transfer to Russia.
“The ‘plan B’ is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba,” The Times said, citing intelligence sources.
The report also mentioned that, according to former Israeli intelligence official Beni Sabti, Khamenei would leave for Russia as “there is no other place for him.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with the families of Iranians who died during the 12-Day War between Israel and Iran, January 3, 2026. (credit: KHAMENEI.IR)
Khamenei had previously assured that he “admires Putin, while the Iranian culture is more similar to the Russian culture,” the report noted.
How is Iranian culture similar to Russian culture? A penchant for supreme leaders, a population used to submitting to dictators, the mind-forged manacles of an ideology — Islam in Iran, Communism in Russia — that has led to much misery.
So pack your bags, Supreme Leader, just in case, as those protests across Iran show no signs of stopping. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is trying to calm things down by telling the security forces to use brute force sparingly, but it’s a little late for that; police batons have split open too many protesters’ heads for things to calm down. Alert your family and closest cronies to transfer as much of their money as they can right now to Sberbank — its headquarters are located at 19 Vavilova Street, Moscow, 117997. Bank officials are standing by. As Fats Waller said so memorably, one never knows, do one?
somehistory says
There is always a place for the evil to flee….there are so many and they assist in the hiding from justice.
If he and his family flee, will NYC fill with protestors demanding he get to stay?
Crown says
Well, my thought is that Zoltar “The Magnificent” Mamzer Mamdani will offer the Ayatollah asylum in The Islamic Republic of New York City.
(Yeah, I know his name is not Zoltar. It’s just that the guy reminds me of those carnival machines that tell your fortune).
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Too bad that NYC doesn’t have an equivalent of the State Department or USCIS to give him that, much as Comrade Zohran might like to have it
John Smith says
He fled to Russia because he’s shit scared of facing the consequences of Trump. Hopefully the rest of the regime will follow him.
PRCS USN (ret) says
He’s already fled?
John Smith says
That’s what I said, “He fled.”
࿗Infidel࿘ says
He hasn’t. If he did and word got out, that would be the end of the regime: the IRGC, Basij and other militias wouldn’t be resisting the demonstrators
Many news sources claim that he’s all set to flee should things deteriorate, in which case, he’s just endangering himself by putting that off. Or maybe Putin isn’t interested in offering him refuge, as he’d probably like to keep Iran as at least a friend, if not an ally, for his access to the Indian Ocean
࿗Infidel࿘ says
There are conflicting reports. One YouTube broadcast 3 days ago claimed that he had
Wellington says
Iranian culture and Russian culture are most definitely similar in that neither culture has ever grasped the supreme efficacy of liberty. But then this goes for most of the world and the world is the worse off for this—clearly.
Man is largely an idiot. The survival of Islam serves as a testimony to this truth. So does any lingering regard for Marxism or for your standard generic authoritarian rule.
James Lincoln says
Wellington says,
“Man is largely an idiot.”
Considering the entire population on planet Earth – and averaging it out – that is a true statement.
somehistory says
I’m glad I am a somewhat small lady. (therefore, not :”man” and not “largely”:)
John Smith says
+1
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, there was one YouTube stream I was watching last night that claimed that Khamenei is fleeing to Moscow. I thought that to be a curious location: he might have been better off fleeing to Iraq
I don’t agree w/ Hugh that Iranian culture is similar to Russian culture at all. Communism has been dead for decades, although one can be critical about the oligarchy that has replaced it. In fact, given the surveys of Iranians, most of them have thrown off islam. But both are, in their own way, very unique and different from everyone around them. Russia is not remotely the type of society that Khamenei would be comfortable in. Assad might be, but not Khamenei
I also think that unlike the Soviets, the Russians are more pragmatic when it comes to dealing w/ other countries. For instance, while they supported Assad, they didn’t tie their own fortunes to his: they were quick to settle things w/ HTS when the latter took over, so that the latter immediately told them that their bases in Tartus and Hmeimim would be left intact. Similarly, they’d like a Pahlavi regime to keep live their bridge to the Indian Ocean, and not get bogged down in the internals of Iranian politics. To that end, it might be cheaper for them to extradite Khamenei to Tehran to face justice, but seize any money he steals. (Unlike Assad, there aren’t even any useful skills like ophthalmology that Khamenei brings to the table)
Anyway, to the extent that these rumors are true, this regime is about to fall. Or else, leaders don’t plan foreign trips when there is so much turmoil back home. Incidentally, it would be fortuitous if a missile – maybe Israeli – takes down Khamenei’s plane while it’s still in Iranian air space 😈
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Are they? Right now, ₽1 = 500 rials, so all those stashes of rials would be worthless at Sberbank. I doubt that Sberbank will want US dollars, so that’s out. So they’ll have to pay the Russians in gold in order to get entry there?
I do think that Russia ought to deny Khamenei any sanctuary. Moscow will need a future Iran to agree to be a transit path to the Indian ocean, whereby they can have a trade route to India, so it would be wise to not antagonize the new regime in Tehran. Like I pointed out above, unlike the Soviets, the Russians don’t have any ideological or other affinity towards internal parties in any country, so they’d happily deal w/ replacement regimes willing to deal w/ them. A new Iran too, while normalizing relations w/ Israel and the US, should be willing to remain that access to the Indian Ocean for Russia, and not get embroiled in geopolitics in Ukraine. Of course, do it at a price – that Russia returns any money that Iran has stolen, as well as extradites Khamenei and all members of the islamic regime who flee there
somehistory says
The Russians could pretend that he’s singing the words to a 60’s song, “Please, lock me away and don’t allow the day, here inside, where I hide…”
And then tell the ones who want him taking a long dirt nap, that he soon will be.
Westman says
Russia is no longer communist and the Christian orthodox churches are rebuilt and attended. Russia surprised the West by ramping up weapons development and output during the Ukraine War because the workers now have capitalist incentives. It’s not the Russia of the 1990s and has gone beyond China by both the embrace of Capitalism AND discarding Communism. The days of, “We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us”, are over. Though it is not fully “free” as we, it is still developing and likely would still be a mess if there had not been strong central authority – like Russia shortly after the collapse when the greedy and corrupt had open season and almost destroyed the nation.
The Ayatollah will be tolerated there but not embraced. Russia has warred with Islam in the past and knows what it is. Iran was strategically useful as a hedge against the West while the Ayatollah ruled but if the Islamic regime of Iran falls, the Ayatollah Khamenei has no cards to play and might “disappear” in Russia. No love lost anywhere.
PRCS USN (ret) says
+1
I watched a YouTube vid of Spetsnaz training. Religion definitely was on display during the graduation ceremony.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
💯
This is precisely what most American political commentators don’t understand about Russia. They think that Russia is still a communist dictatorship. Yeah, democratic institutions may have been eroded during the last 26 years of Putin and Medvedev, but Russia has still been free enterprise
Ironically, one of the few Americans who understands it well is Tucker. When he did his visit to Moscow and his interview w/ Putin – which incidentally won Putin no PR points in the West for harking back to Russia’s borders in 1654, he showed how the McDonalds and Starbucks in Russia were simply rebranded, while the same menus kept being offered. All that resulted from sanctions is Western companies losing brand loyalty there. Now, some critics were right in that Moscow, which Tucker chose to showcase, is a Potemkin village: showing that is like showing somebody New York or LA and claiming that that’s all of America. Yeah, there are places like Yaroslavl and Komsomolsk, which are pretty dreary places. But Russia didn’t become communist just b’cos Western companies pulled out of there. While I hate the anti-Semitic and pro-islamic aspects of Tucker, he has been pretty astute at least in his coverage of Russia
Historically, the only reason Russia was allied w/ Iran was against Turkey: this was Tsar Peter the Great and Nader Shah of Iran against Suleiman the Magnificient, iirc. Only reason Russia was Iran’s ally then was that they had a common enemy in Turkey, and that shi’a Iran is very different from the sunni Tatars and other Turks that there were in Central Asia, Siberia, Crimea and so on. But there is no way that Khamenei would be welcomes in Russia. As I point out elsewhere, Russia, which is politically more pragmatic than even Trump’s US, would love to bury any hatchets w/ a Pahlavi Iran, if for no other reason, just so that they continue to have a land bridge to the Indian Ocean, and thereby, an inexpensive trade route to India. Since the other route – from Vladivostok through the China Seas through the Straits of Malacca to India is far more circuitous and expensive
Walter Sieruk says
Despot Khamenei better flee to Russia and hide in Moscow if he know what’s best for him , that is before the Iranian people captive him and give that wicked dictator everything that he truly deserves
For Ayatollah Khamenei is very much viciously against the Iranian people, For he and the other ayatollahs mullahs and similar Muslim despots in tyrannical control in that Islamic regime of Iran terribly oppress the Iranian people through their thugs in uniform who are called the “Islamic Revolutionary guards..”
The Iranian people are right and justified for hating that brutal cruel oppressive and even murderous Islamic tyrannical regime of Iran.
For example, the many arrest and imprisonment and even execution of people , repeatedly, who had peacefully protested that “mullah tyranny” of Iran only further exposes the weak ,fearful and intolerant nature of those in power in the oppressive and brutal “mullah regime “ of Iran.
Therefore, the Iranians people are more than justified in wanting that brutal cruel oppressive Islamic tyranny to be overthrown and replaced with a genuine government.
As a former Muslim revealed an important reality when he wrote, “The Islamic republic of Iran exists and operates as what every fundamentalist dreams of, an Islamic state ruled by Sharia …” He further exposes that “What followed its establishment was the inevitable consequence and inexorable logic of its Islamic premise; state terrorism, a merciless tyranny.” [1]
[1] THE ISLAM IN ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Ibn Warraq page 347.
Walter Sieruk says
Tyrant Ayatollah Khamenei is an enemy the Iranian people, through that misery and death inflecting horrific Islamic tyranny of Iran which is evil in sense of that word. Now, all this Islamic cruel vicious tyranny is coming around back on him . So in order to escape justice , he’s “on the run.”
For that horrifically, cruel oppressive malicious and murderous Islamic regime of Iran, denies the Iranian, people their basic natural human rights. As in consequence the people of Iran would and should revolt against that viciously brutal tyrannical “’mullah regime” of Iran.
Accordingly, the Iranian people are right and righteous by engaging in bitter and strong protests against those cruel malicious and murderous tyrants in power of that cruel and oppressive Sharia based dictatorship of that Islamic regime of Iran.
In other words, those vicious despots of that horrendously horrific Islamic regime have provoked the people excessively too far.
In addition, some of the people who trapped in and forced to exist in the Islamic dictatorship of Iran might not know about the intellect philosopher John Locke, but his ideas do apply to them. For Mr. Locke taught that any good government has the duty to ensure the security and safety of its citizens. Yet when a tyranny is the people in the tyrannical government do have every natural and ethical right to overthrow that terrible and oppressive tyrannical government.
Walter Sieruk says
regarding the news about Khamenei fleeing Iran , it’s literally “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
For the Iranian people are justly and rightly revolting against that brutal cruel oppressive , misery and death inflecting tyrannical Islamic regime of Iran. The Bible reads “All the days of the oppressed are wretched.” Proverbs 15:15. [N.I.V.]
Taffy says
The US and/or Israel better step up to the plate and aid the Iranian protestors. Currently, they do not have enough oomph by themselves to overthrow the regime. This means that they either need the US, Israel or defections within the ranks of the Iranians to get them over the hump towards a regime change.
Israel could tell the Ayatollah that his reign is over, and that if he does not step down and leave Iran, he would be personally targeted. This speaks loudly because of Israel’s expertise in finding and eliminating Nasrallah, his successors and other high level Hezb’Allah officials. My guess is that Trump and/or Israel have to do something at this juncture, Iran is weak from drought on top of the losses that they suffered in the 12-day war and a 35%+ poverty rate. This is the most opportune time to take action if a regime change is what Trump or Israel truly wants. Hopefully Pahlavi will side with the liberators rather than the Chinese or the Russians. And hopefully he will roll back time to the era when the Iranian women dressed smartly, and the whole country was prosperous (without the corruption of the then Shah).
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I agree w/ you on this: Israel should tell Khamenei to flee to Iraq, as opposed to getting Iraqi shi’a militias to help the IRGC & Basij clamp down on the Iranian demonstrators. In the past, it used to be Hizbullah, but since they’ve been practically eliminated, it’s now the Badr brigades, Kataeb Hizbullah and other Iraqi militias trying a last attempt to resurrect the regime
Oh, btw, the US should tell Baghdad to seal up its border w/ Iran and stop allowing their militias to go to Iran, unless they wish to be bombed. US/Israel needn’t directly interfere b/w IRGC and demonstrators, but they can target foreign fighters trying to enter Iran from Iraq
Troybeam says
The wealth he accumulated should remain in Iran and given back to feed the people.
Russia will take him for all that wealth he has, , Siberia package perhaps for a cost.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, the next government of Iran should tell Moscow that if they want that land bridge to the Indian Ocean, they have to return any money that the mullahs steal and try to bank in Russia, as well as extradite any member of the regime – Khamenei included – to face justice. That’s the only trump card that the collapsed Iranian state has vis a vis the Kremlin, so they should max out what they can get for it
WPM says
If he flees to Russia he better get a line of good food tasters. It would be a shame if he fell ill and died of some “rare cancer” after moving there in only a few months and Russia froze his stolen assets for future use as “Russian courts” ruled them ill gotten gains to be taken “for the good people of Russia”. Putin .a history buff pretzel maker will site something that happen 800 years ago that makes it all right and legal. Death by soup or tea is not uncommon for people Putin want unalive in his country or oversea people who give him problems.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Russia has no reason to kill him, though. If they simply extradited him to Iran, they’ll win brownie points w/ the next Iranian regime, which may allow them to continue to use the country as a bridge to the Indian Ocean
WPM says
He should stay and do his jihad duty he ask thousands of his minions to do die for the cause go down fighting he will go to whore heaven right??He is scared of Trump the leader of “big Satan ” of America friend of “little Satan” Israel what kind of jihadist Moslem is he !
Walter Sieruk says
Those evil men who are the despots of Iran ,with all their cruel oppressive Islamic misogyny are now having the brutal anti-female policies coming down back on them hard. Therefore, the olf saying might be true , which is “What goes around comes around..”