Even among the shock troops of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Iran, there are signs of discontent and dismay at the killing of so many protesters — now said to number nearly 40,000 killed and 300,000 wounded. Some have not reported to work; others have refused to fire on the protesters.
More on these signs of demoralization in the IRGC can be found here: “Cracks Behind the Uniforms: The Silent Fracture Inside IRGC,” by Omid Habibinia, The Media Line, February 5, 2026:
Three weeks after the unprecedented massacre of protesters in Iran, carried out largely by forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated Basij militia, there are growing signs of discontent among some IRGC members over the continued use of live fire against civilians.An IRGC member, speaking through an intermediary, said he has not reported to work since Thursday, Jan. 8, and has since refused to return, citing severe depression and ongoing medical treatment. According to the officer, although “shoot-to-kill orders” had been issued against protesters and harsh crackdowns were expected on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 8 and 9, and in the days that followed, he was still shocked by the level of violence and brutality inflicted by IRGC forces on the public. He added that some members of his own family were among the wounded or the disappeared.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that in recent weeks the IRGC’s Intelligence Protection Organization, the body responsible for internal security oversight, sent confidential directives to commanders warning that any refusal to carry out orders—whether from their immediate superiors or from the Supreme National Security Council—would be met with severe punishment.
According to these directives, violators are to be immediately arrested and referred to special military courts. The orders emphasize that disobedience could result in the harshest sentences, particularly at a time when the country is portrayed as being on the brink of widespread urban clashes or civil war.
Beyond these confidential instructions, the IRGC Intelligence Organization issued an unprecedented public statement immediately after the Jan. 8 uprising, warning against any “insubordination, desertion or disobedience” within the armed forces and threatening prosecution and “decisive action.”…
That warning was issued precisely because there have been cases of “insubordination, desertion, and disobedience” in the IRGC ranks. There has not yet been the wholesale desertion of IRGC and army soldiers that some had hoped for, but there is a steady stillicide of soldiers refusing to show up, especially in the regular army.
Negin Ghadimi, a 28-year-old student, was shot by members of the IRGC in Shahsavar in northern Iran. They prevented her from being taken to a hospital, and she died in her father’s arms.
It is the reports of such murders as that of Negin Ghadimi, dying in her father’s arms, that by the thousands spread among ordinary Iranians, who then swell the ranks of the protesters. And the same stories, of the point-blank killing of protesters, also demoralize Iran’s soldiers, some of whom are no longer showing up for duty.
But for the protesters to again take heart, enough to again go out on the streets by the millions, and brave live fire, they must now have the ironclad assurance that the Americans will decapitate the leadership, including the supreme leader and the IRGC high command, just as soon as the protests begin again.
It’s up to Trump. He has disappointed the protesters before, when he promised to come to their aid and then did… nothing. He can’t let them down again.
Wellington says
Yes, per Hugh Fitzgerald, now it’s up to Trump. If he fails here, then, no way around it, it’s a massive failure. And perhaps just giving a green light to Israel to do what it must do would be enough.
And here is what won’t be enough: continuing to give the green light to the Witkoff and Kushner “route,” which “pair” remind me of Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, both of whom were also well educated incompetents.
History is replete with respectable human beings overall and well educated who are EXACTLY the kind of people you don’t want solving dire national or international problems in exigent situations. It is imperative that such decision making is made by highly competent realists like a Lincoln or a Churchill. I can only hope that Trump is such a person and to date the verdict on Trump where Iran is concerned is still mixed. Indeed, to date it is not coming up as a positive for Trump.
I would welcome, to put it mildly, a major change in a positive direction for the sake of the best of humanity by America’s 45th and 47th President (N.B., the 46th President was the worst of all Presidents, bar none, not even Pierce, Buchanan, Carter or Obama). Yes, I surely would.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I wonder how they’re being paid? Last I checked, the currency was 1.5 million rials to the dollar, and it could only have fallen since then. If they are not being paid, who are the idiots who’re working for that regime for free? And if they’re being paid in rials, that currency is totally worthless, and has a value even more volatile than bitcoin (except that bitcoin is still up there)
At this point, it depends on Israel: I wouldn’t count on Trump, who’s now totally bought and paid for by Qatar, Turkey and muslim countries who must dread Iran being exposed as a de-facto non-muslim country, and becoming once again a beacon of liberty in the region. So as I noted in the other thread, Israel should perk up and tell Trump that nothing short of regime change will do, and that if the US doesn’t do it, that they will! And at that point, a post regime Iran will owe us nothing for their liberation, and will be at liberty to align w/ anybody – Israel, India, Russia, Europe, whoever they like
MJ Raichyk, PhD says
Clearly the money / pay factor is bound to be major…
So….
What if the American ALT media broadcast the TRUMP handling of the AMERICAN PROTESTORS — as stupid and insane as they are — on channels reaching IRGC as a way to SHAME THEIR LEO INSTINCTS…. when seeing govt business get done validly with so little bloodshed and eventual vindication of ICE/BP in the couple deaths so far…..
Let’s help the ”depression” spread….
ttyl
TIP says
There’s no point in attacking Iran. There is only six bunker busters left. All he can do is maximum sanctions. The nuclear sites are too deep and require a lot of bunker busters, the big ones.
If they go full war, oil goes to 200, democrats sweep everything by large margins.
No thanks.
abu taleb says
The IRGC are shooting and killing their own people. They must be devoted muslims which means they are pure evil.
OLD GUY says
You got that right.
Joe1 says
The protesters are Charlie Brown, and Trump is Lucy holding the football.
Kepha says
I wonder. If even those killed by the regime were only half the number reported, it is remarkable that the Iranian protests have continued so long–and, apparently, long enough to cause morale problems for the regimes best enforcers.
Frankly, I winced when Trump made large promises to the Iranian protesters. The USA has a bad habit of making noises when it carries not stick. Further, it would be a dreadful case of out of the frying pan into the fire if a group like the Mojaheddin-e-Kalq were to pick up the pieces in this Iranian revoltion–they’re a most unholy bastard child of Karl Marx begotten on the backside of Baphomet.
On the other hand, if the Iranian crackdown succeeds, we should keep and perhaps strengthn sanctions against the regime, and demand that it prove itself the “liberating force” its apologists say it is. That is something Poppy Bush should’ve done with Deng’s regime in the wake of 8/4/89.
gravenimage says
In Iran, Cracks Begin to Show Even in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
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Good to hear!