Iran’s Leadership Draws Up Contingency Escape Plans Amid Widespread Anti-Government Protests: Reports

As anti-government protests continue to rage and spread across Iran, the country’s leadership is reportedly preparing for a potential collapse of the regime, with senior officials said to be drawing up contingency escape plans and stockpiling resources.

On Thursday, British Conservative Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat said intelligence reports indicate that Iranian senior officials are putting contingency measures in place, “which suggest that the regime itself is preparing for life after the fall.”

“We’re also seeing Russian cargo aircraft coming and landing in Tehran, presumably carrying weapons and ammunition, and we’re hearing reports of large amounts of gold leaving Iran,” the British lawmaker told Parliament. 

Amid growing domestic unrest, the regime’s leadership has reportedly applied for French visas for their families in recent days, while also taking steps to secure assets abroad.

“In the past 24 hours, high-ranking dignitaries from the reformist clan — including the president of the Islamic Assembly — have been attempting to obtain French visas for their families via a Parisian lawyer,” Iranian-French journalist Emmanuel Razavi told the French news outlet Le Figaro.

Razavi also told the Nouvelle Revue Politique in a separate interview that the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, is one of the leaders seeking a visa. The journalist added that the nephew of former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani applied for a visa to France.

There have also been reports that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has a backup plan to flee the country if security forces fail to suppress the protests or begin to defect.

“The ‘plan B’ is for Khamenei and his very close circle of associates and family, including his son and nominated heir apparent, Mojtaba,” an intelligence source told the British newspaper The Times.

The Iranian leader would reportedly flee to Moscow, following the path of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

However, some experts have cast doubt on reports that Khamenei, who has not left Iran for decades, plans to flee, arguing the 86-year-old leader will likely die in the country.

As anti-regime protests continue to sweep Iran and security forces struggle to contain them, Iranian officials are increasingly blaming one another and foreign enemies, laying bare growing fractures within the regime.

All eyes on Iran. Widespread protests in Iran. Call for freedom pic.twitter.com/9ONJUsb8U9

— Masud Gharahkhani (@MasudGh) January 8, 2026

The nationwide protests, which began with a shopkeepers’ strike in Tehran last week, initially reflected public anger over the soaring cost of living, a deepening economic crisis, and the rial — Iran’s currency — plummeting to record lows amid renewed economic sanctions, with annual inflation near 40 percent.

Increasingly, however, the protests have turned against the government itself, with demonstrators shouting slogans against the regime.

For nearly two weeks, widespread demonstrations have shaken the Islamist regime, with violent clashes between protesters and security forces drawing international attention and increasing pressure on the government to refrain from using violence against peaceful demonstrators.

Khamenei last week accused “enemies of the Islamic Republic” of stoking unrest and warned that “rioters should be put in their place.” Then on Friday, he described the demonstrators as a “bunch of vandals” who were trying to “please” US President Donald Trump, vowing authorities will “not back down.” 

Iranian rights group HRANA said on Friday it had documented the deaths of at least 62 people, including 14 security personnel and 48 protesters, since protests began on Dec. 28.

As regime forces intensify their crackdown on protesters and opposition figures in an effort to maintain stability, the government has cut internet access and telephone lines — a move experts warned could signal an imminent violent escalation — though videos of the demonstrations continue to circulate online.

This week, US Trump reiterated his threat to strike Iran if security forces kill protesters, warning that any violence against demonstrators would carry “serious consequences” for the regime.

“I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots … we’re going to hit them very hard,” Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt.

According to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights NGO (IHRNGO), dozens of protesters, including eight children, have been killed since the protests began, with more than 340 demonstrations reported across all 31 of Iran’s provinces.

According to media reports and social media videos from Iran, anti-riot forces — including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij militia, local police, and the army — have used violent tactics such as live fire, tear gas, and water cannons to suppress demonstrations.

In widely circulated social media videos, protesters can be heard chanting slogans such as “Death to the dictator” and “Khamenei will be toppled this year,” while also calling for Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to step down.

The ongoing demonstrations are the largest since the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, which erupted nationwide after Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, died in a Tehran police station following her arrest for allegedly violating hijab rules, sparking calls for human rights and individual freedoms across Iran.