WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly evacuated Iran’s newly appointed Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to Moscow on a Russian military jet for surgical treatment following the February 28 US-Israeli strikes, paralyzing Tehran’s government operations.
The unprecedented extraction leaves Iranian state officials facing unpaid wages just days before the March 20 Iranian New Year. President Masoud Pezeshkian has lost all contact with his own supreme leader, halting critical administrative approvals while the U.S. government aggressively circulates a $10 million bounty for Khamenei’s exact coordinates.
The sudden leadership vacuum directly destabilizes multiple factions within the regime:
- State employees and officials are awaiting mandatory holiday salary disbursements
- Senior clerics are actively pushing to replace Khamenei with an emergency leadership council
- Regional security agencies operating blindly without direct executive command
Intelligence assessments reviewed by this publication confirm the 56-year-old cleric sustained severe leg and arm injuries and currently recovers inside a highly secured private hospital at a Kremlin presidential residence. Putin personally orchestrated the medical extraction during a classified phone call with Pezeshkian. Iranian security agencies warned the president that treating Khamenei at domestic facilities risked exposing his location to secondary bombardments.
Russian Military Evacuates Khamenei To Evade Israeli Strikes
In Washington, U.S. officials publicly cast doubt on Tehran’s official survival narrative. President Donald Trump directly questioned Khamenei’s status during a telephone interview with NBC News. The president suggested the regime should immediately surrender if their leader remains alive. The State Department continues to leverage the $10 million reward through the Rewards for Justice program, targeting Khamenei and nine other key Iranian officials to fracture the regime’s inner circle.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his military forces are actively setting the optimal conditions for total regime collapse.
“Very few people know his real status,” an Israeli intelligence source said.
Military documents and intercepted communications examined by reporters indicate the domestic administrative crisis inside Iran severely outpaces the government’s public admissions. Without the supreme leader’s signature and direct oversight, emergency financial authorizations remain frozen. Pezeshkian and his cabinet cannot legally access necessary state reserves to issue paychecks before the nationwide holiday shutdown.
The timeline of the crisis reveals a rapid deterioration of Iranian central command:
| Date | Event | Regime Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| February 28 | US-Israeli strikes hit Tehran targets | Khamenei sustains severe leg and arm injuries |
| March 8 | Assembly of Experts appoints new leader | Khamenei takes power while hidden from public view |
| March 12 | Israeli PM issues public military threat | Intelligence confirms leader remains completely isolated |
| March 16 | Moscow medical evacuation exposed | Government freezes over unpaid administrative salaries |
Unpaid Wages Paralyze Iran Government Before New Year
Iranian officials continue to desperately mask the severity of the institutional breakdown. Presidential adviser Yousef Pezeshkian claimed via social media that the supreme leader remains “safe and sound” inside the country. State television broadcasters simultaneously attempt to manage public expectations, designating Khamenei a “wounded veteran” of the conflict without disclosing his specific injuries or his removal to Russian territory.
Defense analysts familiar with the region’s operational logistics noted that relying on Russian military transport exposes a critical collapse in Iran’s elite security apparatus. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ultimately could not guarantee their new commander’s safety inside their own sovereign borders.
The Assembly of Experts now faces mounting internal pressure from dissenting senior clerics to abandon the single-leader model entirely. With the financial deadline approaching on Thursday, Tehran must either definitively prove Khamenei’s capacity to govern from Moscow or face mass internal administrative rebellion over frozen state bank accounts.
