As an American carrier strike group moves closer to Iran, a new report claims the country’s top leader has gone into hiding.
U.S. Central Command said in a post on X that the carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its support ships are “currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability.”
With the U.S. armada approaching, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is now living in an underground shelter in Tehran, according to the website Iran International. The outlet reported that Khamenei relocated after Iranian officials “assessed an increased risk of a potential US attack,” citing sources it did not name.
The deployment comes as new details continue to surface about the Iranian government’s crackdown on protesters earlier this month. Iran International reported that chemical agents were used against demonstrators, causing breathing difficulties.
“What was fired was not tear gas,” one protester said.
“People collapsed,” another said.
Iranian officials have unofficially suggested as many as 30,000 people may have been killed in the crackdown, according to Time. The government has officially acknowledged killing 3,117 people, while a human rights group put the toll at 5,459 deaths, with 17,031 deaths under investigation.
Before the crackdown, President Donald Trump warned Iran against carrying out a mass slaughter of protesters. As noted by CBS News, the strike group’s arrival prompted the leader of the Revolutionary Guard Corps to boast that his soldiers had their “finger on the trigger.”
The Lincoln strike group includes the carrier and the guided missile destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr., USS Spruance, and USS Michael Murphy. The Lincoln carries squadrons of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, F-35C fighter jets, and MH-60R/S helicopters.
According to The New York Times, the carrier adds to U.S. military assets in the region, including about a dozen F-15E jets sent to bolster America’s offensive capabilities.
Iran, meanwhile, continued issuing warnings.
“Our response will be more decisive and more painful than before if we become the target of a U.S.–Zionist attack,” Reza Talaei-Nik, the defense ministry spokesman, said.
