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Iran’s revolutionary guards are once again in the spotlight as the war in the Middle East escalates. The guards, who answer only to the country’s supreme leader, are responsible for launching attacks oversees and overseeing the country’s ballistic missile arsenal. President Trump, who has already bombed their headquarters, would like to see them destroyed.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are the elite forces of the regime, an organisation as secretive as it is feared. Created in 1979 at the birth of the Islamic Islamic Republic, the Revolutionary Guards have remained the armed wing of the regime. Their original mission was to protect the Supreme Leader and relentlessly hunt down his enemies. Over the years, their power has grown almost absolute, surpassing the regular army. They command ground forces, a navy, an air force and even a special elite unit. With 125,000 personnel, the Revolutionary Guards have effectively become the country’s true rulers.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are the elite forces of the regime, an organisation as secretive as it is feared. Created in 1979 at the birth of the Islamic Islamic Republic, the Revolutionary Guards have remained the armed wing of the regime. Their original mission was to protect the Supreme Leader and relentlessly hunt down his enemies. Over the years, their power has grown almost absolute, surpassing the regular army. They command ground forces, a navy, an air force and even a special elite unit. With 125,000 personnel, the Revolutionary Guards have effectively become the country’s true rulers.
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00:02Nazila Marufian has been living in constant fear for over a week.
00:07The exiled Iranian journalist is glued to her phone,
00:11waiting for news from her family, who are still in Saqqez in western Iran.
00:47For several days now, Nazila has been getting videos of protesters being killed.
00:55Because Iran has been rocked by unprecedented waves of protest since the end of December.
01:10Thousands of Iranians throughout the country are calling for an end
01:14to the rule of the dictatorship of the Mullahs, who have been in power for 46 years.
01:18They are attacking all the symbols of the Islamic Republic,
01:22setting fire to mosques and public buildings.
01:33The Iranian regime has cut off access to the internet
01:37and is using lethal force to suppress the revolt under cover of the digital blackout.
01:43They are shooting us!
01:46The Revolutionary Guards, or Guardians of the Revolution,
01:50were firing at protesters with live ammunition.
01:57Official reports from the regime suggest that over 3,000 people were killed in just two weeks.
02:02But who are these men who are willing to massacre their own people to stay in power?
02:10Created at the inception of the Islamic Republic in 1979,
02:15the paramilitary organization is the armed wing of the regime,
02:18and its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
02:22Its original mission was to relentlessly hunt down the enemies of the regime.
02:29But over the years, the power of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran has become almost absolute.
02:38They have their own ground forces, navy and air force.
02:43With their 125,000 men, they have supplanted the regular army.
02:50And rule supreme over the country.
02:54Their militia represses the people who refuse to submit to Islamist extremism.
03:04They have their own ground forces.
03:04But the Guards are not just a military force.
03:07They have taken control of entire sectors of the economy.
03:11The government, the government, the economic forces, and the mafia
03:17have been replaced by a huge threat in the world.
03:23Drawing on exclusive testimony from former members of the Revolutionary Guard and from Mossad agents,
03:29we reveal how they are seizing the country's wealth.
03:34Almost 100% of the money from the oil market going to the budget of the Revolutionary Guards.
03:42They need billions of dollars.
03:44They use this war chest to finance their fight against their sworn enemies, America and especially Israel.
03:53For years, they have been exporting their struggle throughout the Middle East.
03:57They arm and finance Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas.
04:04Within the country, their power is increasingly contested.
04:12Exceptionally, just a few days before the protests began, we were able to film secretly with young opponents of the
04:18regime.
04:27In recent weeks, the revolt has spread to every social class, every city and the countryside.
04:35Anger that could topple a regime that has been in power for 46 years.
04:42We went to Washington, to Düsseldorf, to Tel Aviv to investigate the Revolutionary Guards.
04:51Tehran, with its 9 million inhabitants, is the capital of one of the most closed dictatorships on the planet,
04:59the Islamic Republic of Iran.
05:02It's impossible for Western journalists to visit.
05:08These images were filmed by a local team a few weeks before the uprising that shook the country.
05:17Filming was authorised by the regime, but it was very tightly controlled.
05:22This is what the authorities want to show the world.
05:31This is the Great Friday Prayer, an unchanging ritual.
05:36As every week, thousands of supporters of the Islamic Republic have gathered at this mosque.
05:43The men are inside.
05:48Outside, the women, fully veiled, are following the ceremony on screens.
06:03This prayer is fuel for the regime's propaganda.
06:07The service is broadcast live on state television.
06:10Imam Ali Akbari stands at the podium holding a rifle.
06:16Ali Akbari!
06:18God is in power!
06:20His sermon covers all the obsessions of the Islamic Republic, including compulsory wearing of the veil.
06:50The country's disastrous economic situation also features in the sermon.
07:12Then, as at each of his prayers, the Imam attacks Iran's sworn enemy.
07:19For 10, 31 to 30, 14 years ago, there go.
07:20All theázor says, what is this?
07:22This is the language?
07:26This is what?
07:26You do think we have a wonderful thing to do.
07:31What do you think?
07:31It's your people and the rest of the country,
07:34the students ofVIDIA and the people of color.
07:34This has become the ones in their minds.
07:36Don't be the first greatestografies,
07:39and you are the best.
07:44You are the most precious.
07:45If you do, you are the most powerful ones and your profession.
07:47that left 1,200 people dead in Israel.
07:55To celebrate the anniversary of the massacre,
07:58the regime organized a large demonstration in the streets of Tehran.
08:18Islamists were killed in Israel.
08:20Mark for Israel!
08:25Supporters of the regime proudly trample on Israeli and American flags.
08:32Some agree to answer our questions
08:34and faithfully recite the official propaganda.
08:39Do you think that the message is to the southern countries?
08:43This message is from Hamas, Guzze and Palestine.
08:46The message is that the Tramponetians were killed in the past.
08:54Islamists will give the message to our enemies
08:56so that we will be the leader of the regime.
09:00We will be the leader of the regime.
09:04The revolution this young man refers to
09:06is the revolution of 1979.
09:12The starting point of Iran's recent history.
09:17At the time, the country was an authoritarian monarchy,
09:20supported by the United States
09:22and ruled by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
09:28He was overthrown by a cleric, Ayatollah Khomeini,
09:32who founded the Islamic Republic of Iran.
09:37To maintain his power and hunt down his enemies,
09:40he created a parallel army made up of devout young men,
09:44the revolutionary guards, or guardians of the revolution.
09:48A militia was devoted to the death of the Imam,
09:52recruited among the Moustazafim, the oppressed of Iran,
09:55fervour and abeigue.
09:58I became a guardian of the revolution to defend religion and serve Islam.
10:06But over almost 50 years,
10:09the revolutionary guards have become a veritable state within a state.
10:15To understand how they managed to bring the country under their control,
10:21we travelled to Dusseldorf in Germany.
10:27There, we met with Mohamed Hussein Tokaman,
10:30a senior member of the Islamist organization.
10:50Mohamed Hussein Tokaman began his training
10:53in the Revolutionary Guard Volunteer Militia, the BASIC.
10:57It has nearly two million members,
10:59many of whom are very young.
11:18These young men are totally indoctrinated.
11:21They go out on patrols everywhere,
11:23keeping the population under surveillance.
11:36The militias are now at the forefront of the massacres of demonstrators.
11:46Mohamed Hussein Tokaman then rose through the ranks
11:50and joined an elite unit.
11:51He became one of the close protection detail
11:55for the head of the Revolutionary Guards,
11:57Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
12:00I was with them and told them,
12:04that of course we would see them every day.
12:06They work with the government.
12:10They are the real government.
12:12They are the real government and the human rights.
12:14They are the national rights of the country.
12:18They are the national rights of the country.
12:20The government and the governor of Mohamed Haerik
12:20promotes an ultra-fundamentalist interpretation
12:23of Islam.
12:24On his official channels,
12:26he often appears in front of fully-veiled female supporters.
12:55Ali Khamenei has ruled the country with an iron hand for 36 years.
13:24The Iranian people no longer want this brutal leader.
13:31According to a poll conducted in August 2025 by an independent institute based in the Netherlands, 70% of Iranians
13:39now want an end to religious dictatorship.
13:44In Tehran, a young couple opposed to the regime agreed to tell us about their daily lives.
13:50They are risking their lives by speaking out. They could be accused of espionage and imprisoned.
13:56These images were filmed a few days before the protests began.
14:00Since the protests started, we've had no news from them because of the internet blackout.
14:06I have no news. I have no news from them. I have no news from them.
14:17Taraneh and Amin are 22 and 24 years old.
14:20To show her opposition to the religious dictatorship, Taraneh has decided to stop wearing the veil, even though it's compulsory
14:28under Islamic law.
14:29I have no news from them.
14:46Masa Amin was the name of a young woman who was beaten to death by the Morality Police in 2022
14:52because she was not wearing her veil properly.
15:00The murder of this 22-year-old student sparked massive protests across the country.
15:11Protesters tore off their headscarves in the street and attacked symbols of the regime.
15:19Even at that time, the protest movement was brutally suppressed.
15:24Hundreds of women were imprisoned. Some were raped or tortured in prison.
15:31But Masa Amini's death gave thousands of Iranian women the courage to show their opposition to the religious authorities.
15:53They were the most important part of the regime. They were the most important part of the regime.
16:01I am a friend of mine. I am not a friend of mine.
16:06To hold onto power, the regime has had to give ground a little on the issue of the veil.
16:11The girls continue to live, for most of the most, especially the young, without a hat.
16:18To take the metro with no head. To sit on the terrace of the cafes without the veil.
16:25To walk in the street without the veil. Even if there are still attempts to repression of the system.
16:34The revolutionary guards regularly try to regain control by sending in the morality police.
16:41To set an example, they round up women who reveal too much of their hair.
16:46That happened to Taranay last year.
16:48Let me start walking in man's town. I am very happy to see the ocean of Bahari, too.
16:54There was a machine that came from there. Also two devices were stopped.
16:59I arrived with an accident in a very bad situation.
17:03We have to sit in the jungle for two minutes.
17:09To find another person.
17:12They found another man.
17:13They've put such a piece of barrier.
17:13They leave him at the lodge.
17:15They've got to get an arm.
17:24Despite this heavy-handed reminder of the law, Taraneh continues to walk around bare-headed,
17:29living an apparently almost normal life for a young person.
17:47It's impossible to kiss in public, but this unmarried couple smoke openly in the street.
17:53And lovers can sit together at this cafe in central Tehran.
18:04There's no alcohol on the menu, but apart from that, you could think you were in a European capital.
18:29It's a space they can feel free, where Taraneh and Amin no longer hesitate to openly criticise the supreme leader
18:37of the revolution, Ali Khamenei.
18:39You're welcome.
18:43You're welcome.
18:45You're welcome.
18:46You're welcome.
18:48You're welcome.
18:49You're welcome.
18:50You're welcome.
18:53Like many young Iranians, Taraneh and Amin try to carve out spaces of freedom for themselves.
18:59Tonight, the couple are going to a party at a friend's house.
19:04Little tops and silk blouses have replaced traditional outfits in Taraneh's wardrobe.
19:12Some of the characters also play a lot.
19:14Two years ago, I won't be surprised.
19:17But when I do not know the family of Shal посмотреть,
19:20I don't know if they are afraid of any animated,
19:25I feel like I am always better.
19:29I'm more confident than myself.
19:31And my character is very negative.
19:32And my character in my home is a different problem.
19:36It's important to me.
19:37I think it's very important.
19:41How are you?
19:43How are you?
19:43How are you?
19:46Yes.
19:47How are you?
19:48How are you?
19:52How are you?
19:53Before leaving for the party,
19:55the couple have a drink of smuggled alcohol.
19:59How are you going to drink?
20:01Yes, let's drink.
20:04What are you thinking about?
20:06What are you thinking?
20:07I thought that if the door of each other
20:11and the other people would not come to me,
20:14I would not say anything.
20:18That's...
20:20The party is in a residential district of Tehran.
20:25How are you going to get the start?
20:28Yes.
20:30I'm going to get the start.
20:33Tehranay and Armin order a taxi using an app
20:36for a night out like any European party goers,
20:39but with an added worry.
20:45With a quarter of the population still in favour of the government,
20:49young people are afraid of being reported.
21:10As with the veil, the Islamist regime has relaxed the rules on gathering somewhat,
21:15in an attempt to win young people over.
21:19That night, the 30 or so friends were able to dance to American rock music
21:24until the early hours of the morning without being disturbed.
21:29The Mullah's regime is progressively losing its grip on the people of Iran.
21:34Even their so-called glorious deeds no longer interest many people.
21:39The Revolutionary Guards allowed us to film in a place they're very proud of.
21:43The former US Embassy, now converted into a museum of espionage.
21:49This is a place that promotes hatred of America.
21:53But it no longer thrills the crowds.
21:56The rooms are desperately empty.
21:58There are no Iranians.
22:00We came across only a few Japanese tourists,
22:03who seem to be there by mistake.
22:06While the regime likes to demonize its enemies,
22:10above all, it loves to display its military power.
22:13We headed for the National Aerospace Park,
22:16about 20 kilometres from Tehran.
22:19The official guide agreed to show us around this museum,
22:22dedicated to armaments.
22:34The Islamic Republic's impressive military arsenal is on display here.
22:40There are drones, but mainly cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
22:47This is a strategy that we have, the Khurramshan's mission.
22:51It is 2,000 kilometres.
22:53A war would be a war, 2 tons.
22:56The most war would be a war,
22:58in this event,
23:00is 300 soldiers and 600 soldiers.
23:04This show of force is a message to the regime's enemies.
23:09Some of these missiles have recently struck Israel.
23:25The 12-day war.
23:2712 days during which the conflict between Iran and Israel,
23:31which had long been simmering, escalated into open warfare.
23:44At 3 o'clock on the first morning, Tehran was shaken by a series of explosions.
23:49It was the beginning of Operation Rising Lion.
23:53Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion,
23:58a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.
24:07A few hours earlier at the Nevatim military base in southern Israel,
24:11nearly 200 aircraft had taken off, including F-16 and F-15 fighter jets.
24:23The scale of the raid was unprecedented.
24:26There were also radar planes for detection and protection of the raid,
24:32and for sure, there were ravitaillement planes,
24:34because we had a very significant distance of more than 1,500 km between Israel and Iran.
24:41So it was a very massive raid, like we hadn't seen it in the 21st century.
24:51This is one of the most impressive military operations in modern times.
24:58With formidable efficiency, the IDF neutralized Iran's air defense systems.
25:11They destroyed the S-400, Russian, who are part of the best anti-aeron batteries,
25:17which allowed them to conquer the Iran's air completely.
25:23The air force operated in the Iranian sky, like it was a stroll in the park.
25:30Caught off-guard, Iran sent its kamikaze drones into the sky.
25:38But they were immediately destroyed by Israeli combat helicopters.
25:53Cornered, the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force then made a serious mistake.
26:00They decided to meet to organize a counter-attack.
26:04The trap, set by the IDF, was closing in on them.
26:09They sent encrypted false messages to these commanders of the Iranian IRGC,
26:18and they brought them together to the same bunker.
26:21There were agents also near the locations in order to ensure that indeed they are there.
26:28And then there, Israeli officers bombed the place.
26:36They aim for what we call the C2, that is, the commandment system.
26:41The fact that the commandment of the commandment suddenly creates a surprise effect.
26:48And it also causes, of course, the fear.
26:53In retaliation, the Iranian regime fired more than 500 ballistic missiles at Israel.
27:04Around 50 of them reached the heart of Tel Aviv.
27:10Israel retaliated in turn.
27:17It attacked all the symbols of the Islamic Republic.
27:21Including the state television station, Irib News.
27:30Leading figures from the regime were simply taken out in their Tehran homes.
27:49During the 12 days of war, around 30 high-ranking officials were assassinated.
27:55Among them were Hossein Zalami, the head of the Revolutionary Guards.
28:00Amir Ali Aguizadeh, the commander of its air force.
28:04Mohammed Bagheri, the chief of staff of the armed forces.
28:14But Israel's main aim in Operation Rising Lion was to strike at the heart of the Iranian system.
28:21Its closely guarded nuclear program.
28:25Several of the program's top scientists were assassinated.
28:32Including the head, Feredun Abassi.
28:36So the Israeli assassinations of between 10 to 15 nuclear scientists during the war
28:41was certainly an impressive accomplishment.
28:45Mainly due to the fact that those were not ordinary nuclear scientists.
28:48They were actually playing a major role concerning the weaponization part of Iran's nuclear program.
28:54The research center in Isfahan was bombed.
29:02But the Israeli air force was unable to reach one of the country's most strategic uranium enrichment sites,
29:09the Fordo site, hidden in the mountains 200 kilometers south of Tehran.
29:27They put the Fordo, an enrichment plant, 40, 50 meters deep inside the ground, even in some places 90 meters.
29:35Now the Israeli air force doesn't have these monstrous bombs.
29:42Even if we had the bomb, we don't have the bombers.
29:46But Israel was then able to count on very valuable assistance.
29:51Assistance from the skies.
29:54The Americans and Trump said, we will do it, we will do it.
29:59And that's the Americans, the bombers came with these huge bombs and the GBU bombs.
30:06On June the 22nd, 2025, 12 penetrating bombs, each weighing 13 tons,
30:13were dropped on the Fordo site by the United States.
30:16Tonight I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success.
30:24Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Thank you.
30:31Donald Trump congratulated himself.
30:34But despite the huge craters visible in these satellite images, the truth was slightly different.
30:41Iran's nuclear program was certainly degraded and delayed.
30:45They still have the technical capabilities and the technology.
30:49And they still have about 450 kilograms of enriched uranium to 60 percent.
30:55So from the technical point of view, they can still do that.
30:58But it's going probably to be a very risky decision for them
31:01if they don't want to trigger another round of Israeli or even US strike.
31:09But how did Israel prepare for this large-scale operation?
31:15The military offensive would never have been possible,
31:18without an infiltration campaign by the Israeli secret services, Mossad.
31:28It was built over years, layer upon layer.
31:36For a decade, the Israeli secret services have been deeply penetrating Iran.
31:42They've recruited dozens of agents capable of operating in complete secrecy.
31:47But the Mossad began working on a program to recruit foreigners.
31:55Foreigners who are familiar with Iran.
31:59So mostly they have to be Iranians, but not necessarily.
32:02They have to speak the language, Farsi.
32:05They have to know the culture.
32:08It's called foreign flag recruitment.
32:12Mossad relies on a number of key levers to attract recruits.
32:18Mossad relies on a number of key levers.
32:19The matrix for the information is the matrix that we call MICE.
32:22So money, that is to buy people.
32:25Ideology, that is rather the hate regime.
32:30The coercition, that is to get information on whether a person is homosexual,
32:36whether a person is homosexual, whether a person has a liaison,
32:37and then to punish them against people.
32:39And then the ego, that is the desire to have a decisive action on history.
32:51These undercover agents are said to have helped to transport ammunition
32:55and remote-controlled missile launchers into Iran via networks of smugglers.
33:04The easiest way is to smuggle through the borders.
33:08Smuggling in Iran is a way of life.
33:11There is human traffic, you smuggle women, you smuggle drugs,
33:16you smuggle goods, electronic goods, and you smuggle weapons.
33:23Some of the components transported were also used to assemble kamikaze drones
33:28in clandestine workshops.
33:31Mossad agents then used them to destroy military targets.
33:40The 12-day war left a total of nearly 1,000 dead in Iran.
33:48In Tehran, a few days after the end of the fighting,
33:54the revolutionary guards who had been killed were elevated to the rank of martyrs.
34:04Thousands of supporters of the Islamic Republic came to pay their respects as their coffins passed.
34:11Even though the guards had been decimated, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proclaimed victory.
34:34The authorities were trying to save face, as over the years the regime has built its image
34:40as being the ultimate bulwark against Israel.
34:44Anti-Israeli propaganda is omnipresent in Tehran.
34:48This clock displays a countdown to the destruction of the state of Israel promised within 25 years.
34:55It's broadcast all day long on state television, as in this animated clip.
35:04Lego-like figures caricature Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump with a hamburger in his hand.
35:16The regime was titled to have won the victory.
35:19It was buried in a rhetoric of propaganda, of victory, of posters, of grand fresques,
35:27in the name of the new martyrs of Iran today, through the streets of Tehran capital.
35:33But the reality is all other.
35:35And what's interesting is that today, the Iranians are no longer dupes of this propaganda.
35:40Iranians are not really interested in the enemy identified by the regime.
35:45They have a much more practical problem, their purchasing power.
35:51As illustrated by the young couple Taraneh and Amin,
35:54who have come to shop in the financial heart of the capital, the bazaar.
36:13Pomegranates are a staple of Iranian cuisine.
36:24But the prices are exorbitant nowadays.
36:32International sanctions and the misappropriation of wealth by the guards have ruined the economy.
36:40There has been over 50% inflation in one year.
36:44So the young couple are having to cut back on everything.
36:49That's 7 euros.
37:00With an average wage of 170 euros per month,
37:04even basic necessities have become unaffordable.
37:20milk has gone up 50% in two months.
37:26Bread, the staple food for Iranians on low incomes, has tripled in price in one year.
37:37The young couple go to a wealthy district of Teheran, to have lunch with Taraneh's mother.
37:57There's an American fridge, air fryer and espresso machine.
38:02This is an upper-class family.
38:12But the fridge is almost empty here too.
38:16What do you want to do?
38:16Bougie?
38:17Bougie, home, home.
38:19Home, home, home.
38:21Do you want to go inside your life?
38:24I don't want to go inside your house.
38:25My dad and my dad have a question.
38:26I have a question.
38:27I have a question.
38:45Amin doesn't hesitate to help in the kitchen.
38:48Here, the rigid patriarchal society seems far away.
39:06BBC Persian is on in the living room.
39:11Taraneh's mother also gets her news from the internet.
39:15Taraneh's mother also gets her news from the internet.
39:27Taraneh's mother also gets her news from the internet.
39:27The authorities censor social media, so many Iranians use VPNs.
39:44The Revolutionary Guards control the media and telecommunications.
39:49But they also have a stranglehold on almost every other economic sector in the country.
39:56So how did they become a veritable state within a state?
40:05In a residential suburb of Washington, there's a man who has known the organization's secrets
40:10since its inception.
40:14Mohsen Zazegara fled Iran after being threatened by the Revolutionary Guards.
40:35Mohsen Zazegara created this monster more than 50 years ago.
40:46Mohsen Zazegara created this monster more than 50 years ago.
40:49Mohsen Zazegara's mother to the country.
40:53I am here.
40:55Mohsen Zazegara witnessed the gradual transformation of the Islamic militia.
41:08MAHsen Zazegara witnessed the gradual transformation of the Islamic militia.
41:14It's a great opportunity.
41:16In fact, the Iranian civil regime is a 12-year-old mafia government
41:23who is also a dictator who is a godfather,
41:30who is the father of God,
41:31who is the only mafia with them.
41:34The Revolutionary Guards have swapped their uniforms for smart suits
41:39and taken control of all the country's strategic businesses.
41:44In Tel Aviv, Israel, there's a man who has investigated their economic empire.
41:51Udi Levy is a former Mossad commander.
41:53My name is Udi Levy.
41:55I was in charge inside the Mossad
41:59in all the economical warfare against Iran for 15 years.
42:06Along the year, the Iranian, very clever,
42:11they developed two kinds of economy.
42:15The regular economy for the common people
42:18and totally different economy for the Revolutionary Guards.
42:22The meaning was that the Revolutionary Guards took control
42:27of all the main sources of the Iranian.
42:31To control the economy, these new oligarchs created several holding companies,
42:37such as the Khatam al-Anbiya conglomerate,
42:39which is worth more than $10 billion.
42:43Khatam al-Anbiya reconstruction headquarters has moved towards super projects,
42:48which were hitherto undertaken by foreign companies.
42:54Khatam al-Anbiya is one of the main institute for real estate building.
43:05They are doing almost of the huge infrastructure.
43:08They are more contractors than the Khatam al-Anbiya.
43:13And the major projects of the country
43:16have taken from goods and goods, goods, goods and goods
43:21to goods and goods.
43:25Their main resource is oil.
43:28Iran has the fifth largest reserves in the world,
43:32a source of considerable wealth.
43:36Almost 100% of the money from the oil market
43:39going to the budget of the Revolutionary Guards.
43:43This is one of the main sources that they have
43:46to finance this auto activity.
43:48They need billions of dollars.
43:50The oil, subject to international sanctions,
43:53is mainly sold to China.
43:55And the Iranians have set up a sophisticated system
43:58to circumvent the embargo.
44:02Every day, two million barrels of oil leave the Iranian coast
44:06aboard ships that disappear from maritime radar
44:09by cutting off their geolocation beacons.
44:15For example, when they take an Iranian tanker, oil tanker,
44:20it doesn't leave directly to China.
44:22It goes, for example, to Malaysia or Indonesia,
44:25where the oil is transferred on another vessel
44:29with a different flag.
44:31And then from Malaysia and Indonesia, it goes to China.
44:34There is no answer to any question.
44:36The oil is at the price,
44:39and then the oil is at the price.
44:43This trafficking allows them to rake in colossal profits
44:47estimated at nearly $50 billion a year.
44:50And to launder this money, the Revolutionary Guards
44:55have woven a global network of shell companies
44:58in Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates.
45:07When you are under sanction, immediately your name entering
45:11to the blacklist.
45:15The meaning that the banking cannot work with you,
45:18the banking cannot transfer money.
45:20Companies, other companies cannot work.
45:21So if you want to bypass, you have to build a shell company.
45:26The moneychanger opened a cover company
45:28in China, or in Dubai, or in Hong Kong.
45:33For denouncing this mafia-like system,
45:36Mohsen Sazeghara was imprisoned five times
45:39in Teheran's Eve imprisoned by the Revolutionary Guards,
45:42the organisation he himself created.
45:46I lost after two long hunger strikes totally.
45:51It took about 79 days.
45:54When I was released, I was only 42 kilogram.
45:59I lost about 35 kilogram of my weight.
46:03Mohsen Sazeghara was eventually released.
46:06He fled Iran and continues to oppose the Islamic Republic
46:10from the United States.
46:11But his life remains under threat.
46:15The FBI has warned me,
46:18the intelligence of the Revolutionary Guard
46:22is planning to kill you.
46:24They informed that they want to kill me.
46:26I heard that Khamenei personally has ordered that
46:32shut down and close the mouth of this guy outside Iran.
46:41Because the Revolutionary Guards
46:43make assassination attempts on their opponents,
46:47well beyond Iran's borders.
46:50Vidal Cuadras is recovered from a shot in the face
46:52that he received close to his house in Madrid.
46:55The police believe it's a work of sicarians
46:57and he is investigating a possible iranian connection.
47:01The feds charged one Iranian and two Canadian nationals
47:04for plotting the murders of two Maryland residents,
47:07one of whom had defected from Iran.
47:09A couple of Iranian people tried to shoot a bomb
47:12during the assembly of an Iranian opposition party
47:15last Saturday in Villepinte, near Paris.
47:17Matthew Levitt, a former US counter-terrorism official
47:21based in Washington, has meticulously documented
47:24these clandestine operations.
47:28I created a map which we will update on a regular basis
47:31of Iranian external operations.
47:33The map shows very clearly that Iran has been using these tactics,
47:37specifically assassination, kidnapping and violent intimidation
47:43all over the world since, you know, weeks into the revolution.
47:48This phenomenon has accelerated significantly in recent times.
47:53Matthew Levitt has documented at least 88 clandestine operations
47:57carried out by the Guardians abroad over the past five years,
48:01including 11 in France.
48:02IRGC has a mission to address those at home or abroad
48:07that present threats to the revolution.
48:09So Israelis, Jews that support Israel or speak out against Iran,
48:14Iran and, of course, Iranian dissidents.
48:18Every day, every day,
48:22they will be organized.
48:24All of you want to drink.
48:28An Iranian dissident has agreed to tell us
48:31about the persecution he is suffering.
48:34For security reasons,
48:35it is impossible to meet him in person.
48:40If you meet me, you may be followed by some people.
48:45So this is the point,
48:48that from you or through you, they can reach me.
48:53Siamak Tadayon Tamazbi is a journalist
48:56and opponent of the Islamic Republic.
48:59For the past two years,
49:01he's been living in hiding in the Netherlands
49:03under the protection of the Dutch security services.
49:08I'm not in the same place every day.
49:11It's a solitary, actually,
49:13a very limited version of life.
49:16There is no social life
49:20or communication with the people.
49:23Siamak lives under high security
49:25because he has narrowly escaped death.
49:28In June 2024,
49:30on his surveillance cameras,
49:31he saw two men lurking around his flat
49:34in the middle of the night.
49:37They were wearing the masks,
49:40and one of them was carrying a big hammer.
49:44They were, you know,
49:45trying to prepare to come inside.
49:49I just pushed the panic button
49:51to alarm the police.
49:55And fortunately, they were very fast.
49:59The Dutch police arrested the two men
50:01and found handguns on them.
50:03But their profiles surprised the investigators
50:06because they were not Iranian.
50:09One of them,
50:11Mares Ayari,
50:12is a Franco-Tunisian drug trafficker.
50:16He was also wanted for an assassination attempt in Madrid
50:20against a politician critical of the Islamic Republic.
50:23So, for Siamak, there was no doubt about it.
50:26He had been sent by the Iranian regime.
50:30They hired the mafia that, you know, they just pay,
50:35and they don't want anything to know about that.
50:38They just want a picture from the person who got killed.
50:41And the rest, they are not involved.
50:45Nobody can prove it.
50:47Assassins in the pay of the mullahs.
50:50The Revolutionary Guards rely on organized crime,
50:54such as the Hells Angels motorcycle gang in Canada.
51:01Or drug traffickers in Europe.
51:04For these organizations, this is business.
51:06If the money is good,
51:08and if they have the capabilities,
51:09they'll seriously consider the job.
51:11And for Iran, that's useful
51:12because those are people who presumably have some skills.
51:16This theory is confirmed by the Dutch intelligence services
51:19in their 2024 annual report.
51:43The terror of the Revolutionary Guards exported all over the world
51:47strikes mainly within Iran.
51:49The recent crackdown on protests claimed at least 3,500 victims
51:54over a period of only two weeks.
52:03It was a long time,
52:07and that is something that you view the
52:07It..
52:15The mission of the Revolutionary Guardswith
52:16It's
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