Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly moved into a fortified underground shelter in Tehran after senior military and security officials assessed a heightened risk of a potential US attack, according to two sources close to the government cited by Iran International.
The facility is described as a heavily fortified complex with interconnected tunnels, designed to provide maximum protection during wartime contingencies.
Track live updates on Iran protests and standoff with US here
The report said Masoud Khamenei, the supreme leader’s third son, has assumed day-to-day management of his father’s office and is serving as the principal channel of communication with Iran’s executive branches.
Trump’s ‘big force’ warning
The development comes amid a sharp escalation in tensions between Tehran and Washington, following warnings by US President Donald Trump that an American naval “armada” is heading toward the Middle East. Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said the US was deploying warships closer to the region “just in case” he decides to act against Iran.
A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers are currently deployed in the Indian Ocean and are due to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.
Additional air defence systems are also being moved, likely to protect US and Israeli airbases. The UK has said it will send RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Qatar at Doha’s request.
Iran’s response to Trump
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, issued a stark warning, saying Iranian forces were “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger,” to execute the supreme leader’s orders. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that any attack would be treated as “an all-out war,” with Iran responding “in the hardest way possible.”
Iran uprising
The military brinkmanship follows weeks of unrest inside Iran, triggered by economic hardship and a sharp fall in the national currency, the rial.
Protests that began in late December spread nationwide, prompting a sweeping security crackdown and what activists described as the longest and most comprehensive internet shutdown in the country’s history.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Friday that at least 5,002 people had been killed in the crackdown, including 4,716 demonstrators, 43 children, and 40 civilians not directly involved in protests. Iranian authorities have not confirmed the figures. HRANA also reported that at least 26,541 people had been arrested.
Addressing an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said thousands, including children, had been killed, urging Iran to end what he called “brutal repression” and to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. He also raised concerns over forced confessions, summary trials, and a lack of transparency in judicial proceedings.
Iran ambassador thanks India
Amid the standoff, Iran’s ambassador to India, Mohammad Fathali, issued a rare public note of thanks to New Delhi for opposing a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council that sought increased scrutiny of Iran’s human rights record. He described India’s vote as “principled and firm,” especially at a time of heightened Iran-US tensions.
