Donald Trump is said to have already vetoed an Israeli opportunity to kill Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the conflict erupted on Friday.
But Tehran's 86-year-old supreme leader will still be fearing assassination, hiding out in 'as secure a location as they can manage' as Israel continues to target high ranking officials with deadly precision strikes across the country, onlookers believe.
Speaking on the BBC's Newscast over the weekend, The Economist's defence editor, Shashank Joshi, assessed that Khamenei would likely avoid any public appearances as his remaining loyalists work desperately to keep him out of Israel's crosshairs.
'I think they'll be concerned that Israel has clearly penetrated them inside out, so they will be looking to all possible corners from how to keep him safe, perhaps moving him from place to place,' he said.
Sources within Iran told London-based Persian-language outlet Iran International that Khamenei was moved to an underground bunker in Lavizan, in northeastern Tehran, in the hours after Israel began its attacks on the capital at the end of last week.
