Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has prepared an emergency evacuation plan from Tehran in case the authorities fail to regain control over the spreading protests, The Times reported, citing intelligence sources. Unrest has intensified across several regions of the country over the past week amid a deepening economic crisis.

According to the newspaper, the 86-year-old leader is ready to leave the capital together with his inner circle — roughly 20 aides and family members. The plan would be activated if the army and security forces begin to desert, side with demonstrators, or refuse to carry out orders.

The publication notes that the so-called «Plan B» is designed for Khamenei and his closest entourage, including his son and presumed successor Mojtaba. A former Israeli intelligence officer, Beni Sabti, who left Iran eight years after the Islamic Revolution, told the paper that the scenario envisages Khamenei fleeing to Moscow, arguing that there would be no alternative destination for him.

The authors of the report add that the evacuation scenario draws on the experience of the escape of Syria’s ousted president Bashar Assad.

Earlier reports also indicated that protesters in western Iran possess firearms. According to those accounts, demonstrators have been erecting burning barricades and blocking roads to hinder the movement of security units.