Iran’s Gold Allegedly Flown to Russia as Supreme Leader Braces for Collapse

Russian Il-76 military transport aircraft have made an unusually dense series of flights to Tehran since late December as nationwide protests spread across Iran, according to The Moscow Times on January 9.

The outlet cited the trade publication Air Cargo Week as saying that Il-76TD aircraft, presented as civilian flights, operated regular rotations from Mineralnye Vody in southern Russia to Tehran between December 27, 2025, and January 1, 2026, routing over the Caucasus and avoiding airspace controlled by NATO member states.

Air Cargo Week said the repeated use of the same airframes over a short period and the preference for speed and reliability over cost pointed to deliberate tasking consistent with military logistics, rather than ad hoc charter cargo flights. 

The report also pointed to comments in the British Parliament by Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who said he had seen “extraordinarily courageous protestors” across Iran and that “Russian cargo aircraft” were landing in Tehran “presumably carrying weapons and ammunition,” adding that he had heard “reports of large amounts of gold leaving Iran.”

Tugendhat asked the UK government whether the information suggested Iran’s rulers were preparing “for life after the fall,” and the minister responding said he was not in a position to provide a detailed update. 

Earlier, it was reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had prepared a contingency plan to flee to Moscow with a small inner circle if mass unrest threatened the regime’s stability.

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