IRAN’S supreme leader has scurried away to an underground bunker in a Tehran suburb amid threats to his life, according to reports.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is believed to be cowering away in the secret lair as Israeli missile attacks rain down nearby.
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Two informed sources inside the country told Iran International the country’s ageing dictator is holed up in the bunker in Lavizan, a neighbourhood in Tehran.
It is among the areas in Iran to have been rocked by explosions over the past few days.
Khamenei’s family are also with him, the sources added, including his son Mojtaba – who is seen as a potential heir to the supreme leader.
The Ayatollah also reportedly sought refuge in this bunker during Iranian strikes in April 2024 and October 2024.
It comes as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate – and Donald Trump weighs up whether to get directly involved.
Both countries having fired missile barrages at each other over the past week.
Israel claims its attacks against Iran are necessary to stop it crafting a nuclear bomb – which Israeli officials claim is an imminent risk.
However, this view is disputed by some in the US intelligence world, and Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Donald Trump withdrew from a nuclear deal with Iran and several other countries during his first term in 2018.
A diplomatic source told Iran International that Israel could have taken out Khamenei on the first night of its operations.
But Israel reportedly chose to give him a final chance to abandon Tehran’s uranium enrichment programme.
Trump will decide whether the US will get directly involved in a war with Iran within the next two weeks, the White House has said.
In a Truth Social Post, Trump said: “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding.
“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.
“But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”
The US is currently the only country to wield 30,000lb “bunker buster” bombs that could take out underground targets beyond the reach of conventional munitions.
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These Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bombs can burrow deep inside the ground before blowing up.
Trump claims he vetoed an Israeli proposal to assassinate Khamenei, according to US officials.
But one senior Israeli official has put out a strongly worded threat to the Iranian supreme leader.
Defence minister Israel Katz said: “Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed – he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals.
“He considers the destruction of the state of Israel to be a goal. Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel is ready to “remove” the nuclear threat from Iran.
Israel is itself widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, although the country maintains ambiguity over this.
However, other top Israeli figures have taken a more cautious tone on regime change.
President Isaac Herzog told Axel Springer Global Reporters: “We don’t have a goal on Khamenei, nor do we have a goal on regime change.
“But it could be historically a clear side effect of major historical consequences that will do good to the Iranian people.”
Russia, a close international partner of the Iranian regime, has said it would react “very negatively” if Khamenei is killed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Sky News that the supreme leader’s assassination would “open the Pandora’s box”.
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