Deutsche Welle
· collected 2026-10-12 · by Naomi Conrad, Birgitta Schülke
Omid, whose real name cannot be used, signed up to join Iran's security forces when he was 18 years old and harbored "a deep commitment to my country."
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he → use → country
At the academy, Omid told DW, cadets were under the regime's control "day and night," from their military training through the daily prayers and speeches.
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cadets → tell → prayers
"They mold the minds of the young cadets," Omid said.
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Omid → mold → cadets
Some of these recruits, Omid said, eventually rise through the ranks of Iran's security apparatus to join an elite cadre of officers who plot missions, abductions and assassinations inside and outside of Iran — and have access to unlimited resources and personnel.
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who → say → resources
And, he said, he attended their meetings.
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he → say → meetings
A defector speaks
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defector → speak → ?
When Omid, a burly man who carries scars accumulated during his decades-long service as a commander with Iran's elite special forces, reached out in early 2026, deliberations ensued: Could he have been sent to feed DW misinformation and lies to discredit the broadcaster, whose Farsi service is officially sanctioned in Iran?
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service → carry → Iran
Could he be trying to harm DW or its Iranian employees?
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he → try → DW
Over the course of months, journalists from DW's investigative unit and Persian department corresponded with him.
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journalists → correspond → him
Omid shared records and photos of his training, which ranged from sniper practice and surveillance to street fighting, riot control and parachuting courses.
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which → share → fighting
He also provided photos and videos, documents and locations of a secret monitoring center and housing compounds reserved for high-ranking members of the Iranian security forces.
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He → provide → forces
United in their absolute loyalty to Iran's supreme leader, he said, a clandestine circle of high-ranking officers plot and execute the murder and abductions of the regime's opponents.
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circle → say → opponents
Omid's testimony offered a rare insight into Iran's powerful and opaque security apparatus — and into the lives of the men at the core of the Islamic Republic — allowing DW to piece together a picture of how the regime has maintained deeply loyal forces despite widespread protest movements, international sanctions, rising inflation and recent attacks by its two main enemies, Israel and the United States, that eliminated much of its top military and political leadership.
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that → offer → leadership
DW corroborated substantial parts of Omid's account with documents, photos, videos and interviews with experts.
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DW → corroborate → experts
An intermediary connected the investigative team with a second high-ranking defector, whose account corroborated key details provided by Omid.
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account → connect → Omid
Though DW confirmed both men's identities, we are withholding certain details to protect them and their families.
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we → confirm → them
In the past, Iran has gone after dissidents and opposition activists abroad, including journalists.
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Iran → go → journalists
We asked the Embassy or Iran in Berlin and the Supreme Leader’s Office to respond to our findings.
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We → ask → findings
The Supreme Leader's Office did not reply.
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Office → reply → ?
The embassy in Berlin declined to address the individual allegations, stating that "the Islamic Republic of Iran firmly rejects these allegations and the conclusions drawn from them."
Prayers and privileges
As a high-ranking member of the special forces, Omid had access to the privileges the regime often bestows upon its own: From financial incentives and lucrative economic contracts for their own enterprises to special housing compounds, with their own mosques, schools and hospitals, where personal satellite dishes are banned and religious observance is enforced.
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observance → decline → mosques
These privileges have their price, Omid said: "control, nothing but control."
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Omid → have → control
Officers are tightly monitored.
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Officers → monitor → ?
"You're not allowed to just attend a wedding or travel," he said.
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he → allow → wedding
"They confiscate your passport; they even decide which schools your children are allowed to attend."
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children → confiscate → schools
The control extends to soldiers' prospective partners, who are first vetted by the regime.
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who → extend → regime
Even then, Omid said, he was not allowed to share the true nature of his work with his wife.
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he → say → wife
That, he said, "really eats away at you."
By separating such agents from regular Iranians, the regime can keep a closer eye on its forces, said Saeid Golkar, political scientist at the University of Tennessee, who has extensively researched the command structure of the Islamic Republic's security apparatus.
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who → say → apparatus
"They can create peer pressure and indoctrinate much more effectively," Golkar told DW.
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Golkar → create → DW
And, Golkar said, security forces who are largely segregated from regular Iranians are less likely to balk at using force against their civilian compatriots.
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who → say → compatriots
A defector from Iran's intelligence agency
A month into DW's interactions with Omid, an intermediary connected us with another high-ranking defector.
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intermediary → connect → defector
The man, whom we're calling Reza, worked with the Information Ministry, Iran's intelligence agency.
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we → call → Ministry
Like many who are recruited into the security apparatus, Reza hails from a religious family: He grinned as he showed DW a picture on his phone of himself as a young man, sporting the long beard and turban favored by the devout in Iran.
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he → recruit → Iran
Many of his relatives, he said, still occupy prominent positions in the Iranian regime.
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he → say → regime
In the early days, he was an ardent supporter of the regime and would sometimes cry during prayers, he said, knowing that he was serving his people and the Islamic Republic and "might even die as a martyr for Islam."
Reza said he slowly turned against the regime as he witnessed the clampdown on protesters. Over the years, officers have shot, arrested and beaten Iranians protesting the country's deteriorating living conditions and strict "morality" laws.
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officers → cry → conditions
Nowadays, his hair is cropped short.
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hair → crop → ?
'Years serving a cruel system'
On the evening of January 8, amid an almost total internet shutdown, security forces opened fire on Iranians protesting widespread shortages and spiking inflation.
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forces → serve → shortages
The extent of the massacre slowly came to light as images trickled out of the country documenting the regime's atrocities.
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images → come → atrocities
Thousands of protesters were killed across Iran.
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Thousands → kill → Iran
Both Omid and Reza said the mass killings which, human rights organizations report, included the shooting of unarmed protesters in hospital beds — had horrified them.
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organizations → say → them
Indeed, this ongoing brutality ultimately led them to speak with DW.
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brutality → lead → DW
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
