In recent days, information from Iran has become increasingly scarce. The Iranian government has intensified its crackdown on the ongoing protests, severely restricting internet access and, consequently, the flow of information from the country. Amidst this turmoil, intriguing reports have emerged suggesting that Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has gone into hiding.

Speculation abounds regarding the motivations behind this move. Could it be due to fear of potential American military action?

There might be a basis for such concerns. The USS Abraham Lincoln, along with its task group, is currently en route to the region. The presence of a U.S. aircraft carrier and its accompanying fleet represents a formidable display of military power, one that significantly surpasses Iran’s entire military capabilities.

The leadership in Tehran, particularly the ruling clerics and Ayatollah Khamenei, face a dilemma. Any retreat could be perceived as a weakness, something they are likely keen to avoid. However, some analysts suggest that taking a step back might be the only way to avert a potential military confrontation with the United States.

Khamenei has left his youngest son Masoud Khamenei, 53, in charge of running the day-to-day management of the Islamic Republic, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Masoud Khamenei’s emergency duties include being the primary communication channel with the regime’s executive branch, according to the report.

Iran has deemed the likelihood of US airstrikes to be high after President Trump announced Friday that warships were headed to the Middle East as a warning to the ayatollah, following a continuing war of words between the two leaders in recent days.

Iran might be right about those American airstrikes. The USS Abraham Lincoln and its task group are steaming to the region, and one of our aircraft carriers and its supporting ships represents more military might than everything Iran can muster, combined.

Trump boasted Friday that the US Navy was sending a massive “armada.”

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, which includes three destroyers, is currently motoring from the Indian Ocean to the Persian Gulf region of Iran, Stars and Stripes reported.

Publicly, Tehran has not backed down from heightened tensions with the US as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian threatened to treat any attack against the supreme leader by the US or Israel as “an all-out war against us.”

Tehran – or, more accurately, the mullahs, including the desiccated old shouter that they call Supreme Leader, can’t back down. Backing down would, to them, be seen as a sign of weakness. It would be more accurate to say that it may be the one thing that would avoid a hail of American ordnance.