FLASH
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is reportedly hiding in a bunker, fearing possible US air strikes, as the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is moving towards the Persian Gulf.
According to Iran International, cited by the Jerusalem Post, the 86-year-old supreme leader has moved to a fortified compound in Tehran, connected by a complex network of underground tunnels, following warnings from senior military officials about the increasing risk of an imminent American attack.
Sources say Khamenei has delegated management of the Islamic Republic's day-to-day affairs to his youngest son, Masoud Khamenei, 53, who is already said to have taken on an emergent role as the regime's main channel of communication with the executive.
Tehran is assessing the possibility of air strikes as high, following US President Donald Trump's statement on Friday that US ships were heading to the Middle East as a direct warning to the Ayatollah, following a public clash of statements between the two leaders in recent days.
Trump has publicly stated that the US Navy is sending a large “armada.” The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln strike group, accompanied by three destroyers, is currently moving from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf, according to a report by Stars and Stripes.
Publicly, Iran has shown no signs of backing down from the escalation. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has declared that any attack on Khamenei by the US or Israel would be considered “all-out war against us.”
Even the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security warned this week that a strike against Khamenei could trigger a declaration of "Jihad," according to Iranian Press News and the Jerusalem Post.
Meanwhile, Khamenei, who has been active on social media, has not posted on the X platform since January 17, and it is not known exactly when he took refuge.
This is not the first time the supreme leader has retreated to underground shelter. According to reports, in June, during the 12-day conflict with Israel, he was isolated in the bunker and had even drawn up a list of possible successors in case he was killed.
His last post this year on X contained threats to prosecute "criminals" both at home and abroad, whom the regime holds responsible for the mass protests that have erupted in Iran since December 28.
The protests, fueled by an economic crisis exacerbated by the worst drought in decades, have sparked a brutal response from regime forces. Reports claim that at least 3,000 citizens have been shot, while other sources say the death toll is much higher, up to 20,000 dead, figures that remain independently unconfirmed.
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