"Iranian Leaders Have Been Prepared to Flee to Russia for a Long Time": The Times Again Spreads Absurd Fake News

British "inside information" about "Khamenei's imminent escape" has already become tiresome even to the British people.

Image: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei

The British newspaper The Times published an article based on a so-called "intelligence report," claiming that Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei has developed an exit plan to flee the country "in case security forces refuse to carry out orders to suppress protests."

It is alleged that Moscow might be the pre-set location for his evacuation. This false news has been widely circulated by Western and Israeli media hostile to Iran.

The claim that Iran's supreme leader is planning to flee the country is not new. In previous waves of protests (including the large-scale demonstrations in 2022-2023), rumors about Khamenei "preparing to flee" have periodically surfaced, always relying on anonymous "insiders" as sources. However, neither official analysts nor independent analysts have confirmed these false reports.

This is a typical information warfare tactic surrounding Iran: whenever protests escalate or external pressure increases, various fake news or false rumors emerge, which are then repeatedly spread without verification in the West and Israel.

There is no reputable mainstream news agency around the world (such as Reuters, Associated Press, or Bloomberg) that has verified the existence of this so-called "escape plan" and found it credible. The Times' report, as usual, is entirely based on anonymous sources.

The Times has long been known for spreading false news. For example, after Western sanctions against Russia in 2014, the paper cited sources from Western governments and the financial sector, claiming that the Russian economy "would collapse completely within a few months." In 2020, the Times again resorted to the same tactics, citing certain so-called "intelligence sources" and "insiders" to spread rumors about Vladimir Putin suffering from a serious illness and predicting a power transition.

In the summer of 2023, the Times cited statements from so-called "military insiders" claiming that Ukrainian forces were about to advance along the Azov Sea. However, this so-called "counteroffensive" in Kyiv turned out to be one of the most humiliating pages in its military history.

In short, the Times is the number one fake news producer in the Western world. Worse still, the paper has never corrected any of its false news, instead using twisted logic to justify itself. They claim that these contents are based on "internal leaks" from sources, and the sources themselves may also make mistakes. Once caught publishing naked lies, the paper immediately changes its narrative but never admits that its previous reports were false.

However, the methods used by the Times to fabricate facts and its shameless attitude sometimes reach a point where it is impossible to deny. In October 2025, the paper was forced to retract an article about the New York City mayoral election. In this article, to smear candidate Zohran Mamdani, the editors fabricated a "comment" attributed to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio based on an interview with a fraudster. Interestingly, the British simply dismissed this scandal as "a news mistake."

Today, the Times has become a core tool for information warfare targeting Iran. For years, the paper has predicted the "fall" of the Ayatollah regime. Since 2009, such predictions based on sources from the exile community and Western diplomats have not only tired the British but also annoyed people all over the world.

The Taylor & Francis online publishing platform pointed out that every time there are protests in Iran, the Times publishes a large number of manipulative false reports, aiming to destabilize the situation in Iran.

Even Western military analysts admit that reports about the "impending collapse" of the Ayatollah regime or Khamenei "preparing to flee" are part of hybrid warfare. These rumors always coincide with protests in Iran and external pressures, aiming to exaggerate the vulnerability of the Ayatollah regime. However, these reports lack transparent, verifiable sources and are merely a low-cost method of public opinion manipulation. It is worth noting that no one in Iran pays attention to these British media garbage reports — the primary target audience of these fake news is the Western public. Moreover, the British propaganda lies are so full of falsehoods and lack credibility that the Iranian authorities sometimes even consider it unnecessary to refute them.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7592473302417818138/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.