Exclusive: Insiders reveal how Iran's regime keeps its grip on power | DW News

How has Iran’s regime survived war, sanctions and repeated waves of protest? Two defectors from its security apparatus describe how it recruits, rewards and controls the men who keep it in power.

DW’s investigative team spent months secretly corresponding with a former intelligence officer and a former special forces commander, corroborating their identities and testimony. They describe ideological conditioning, privileged access to business opportunities and restrictions reaching into marriage, travel and their children’s education.

Confidential documents obtained by DW also reveal the structure and weaponry of forces deployed during protests. Amnesty International’s Iran researcher examines what those documents show about lethal repression.

DW investigative journalist Birgitta Schuelke explains how the team verified its sources and what it learned about Iran’s security apparatus.
The Iranian Embassy in Berlin rejected the allegations and conclusions. The Supreme Leader’s Office did not respond.

Don't miss DW Investigative's long-form report on this exclusive story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BidQjWzdR8U

Chapters:

00:00 DW investigation examines how Iran's regime maintains its grip on power

00:40 Former intelligence operative and defector from Iran's security apparatus

01:27 How Iran recruits and indoctrinates members of its security forces

01:44 Former commander in Iran's elite special forces and defector

02:17 Privilege, control and life inside Iran's loyal security elite

02:59 How the regime's security system suppresses opposition and protests

03:42 Raha Bahraini, Iran researcher at Amnesty International, on documents revealing protest crackdowns

04:24 Why former insiders decided to expose the regime's methods [

05:35 Interview: Brigitta Schülke, DW journalist and member of the investigative team

07:11 New details on protest command centers, surveillance and plainclothes agents

09:24 Alleged clandestine operations, political killings and the secretive "Dachma" network

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