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A single aircraft might have given away what the Iranian leadership is planning as Donald Trump continues to threaten military action.
The mystery aircraft was spotted leaving Tehran yesterday evening at about 9.30pm UTC, one of the last scheduled flights from the airfield.
Titled as IRAN07 and ‘Iran government’ operated by Meraj Airlines, the Airbus A321 quickly caught the attention of Internet sleuths due to its suspicious route.
The plane flew over Azerbaijan before entering Russian airspace, landing at Moscow Vnukovo Airport shortly before midnight, according to Flightracker24.
The Iranian government plane left Tehran and landed in Moscow some hours later (Picture: Flightradar24)
An Airbus A321 has space for up to 239 passengers, and it is used on short to medium range flights.
It comes as the relationship between the US and Iran is at rock bottom after weeks of protests and a mounting death toll, prompting Donald Trump to threaten Iran with military action.
The latest souring of the already tense balance has led to a diplomatic crisis, with Trump saying last night that the US has ‘a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.’
The mystery flight has prompted further questions over the whereabouts of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, although it is not known who was on board the plane to Moscow (Picture: Anadolu/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said his country’s army had ‘their fingers on the trigger’ ready to ‘immediately and powerfully respond’ to any attacks.
Despite the threats, the US president also said he plans to talk with Iran.
Voices calling for regime change to overthrow the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have also grown louder since the wave of demonstrations.
With the situation on a knife-edge, rumours are intensifying that top brass among the Iranian leadership might be plotting their escape if the regime is at risk.
While the passenger details on board the Iranian government jet have not been revealed, the flight is bringing back memories of another high-profile escape to Russia as his brutal rule crumbled – Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad and his family.
Donald Trump has threatened Iran with new airstrikes following his promise to intervene if the regime continues to kill protesters (Picture: Laura Thompson/Shutterstock)
The Al-Assads were given asylum in Russia in December 2024 when the Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus after 13 years of devastating civil war and even longer rule by the Assad family.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia, also an international pariah, has become a safe haven for former dictators and shady figures, including the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who is sanctioned by the EU.
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