The United States is following what's happening in Iran "very closely," President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday evening.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they are going to get hit very hard by the United States," he warned.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has a back-up plan to flee Iran for Moscow with a close circle of up to 20 aides and family should unrest intensify and security forces desert or fail to suppress the protests, The Times reported on Sunday, citing an intelligence report shared with it.
“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 reported citing an intelligence source.
“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 was quoted as saying.
Khamenei is now “weaker, both mentally and physically” since the 12-day war with Israel in June, The Times reported citing a psychological profile of Khamenei done by a Western intelligence agency.
The profile called Khamenei a “paranoid” leader, a trait that shaped his plan to leave Iran should the Islamic Republic's security forces desert him.
“On one hand, he is very ideologically motivated, but on the other he is pragmatic in what he sees: he sees tactical compromise for long-term greater cause. He is a long-term thinker,” read the assessment.
