London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Leaked recordings reveal IRGC soldiers’ ‘doubt and confusion’ over protest crackdown

Leaked recordings reveal IRGC soldiers’ ‘doubt and confusion’ over protest crackdown

Members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are feeling “doubt and confusion” after nearly six months of anti-regime protests, senior officers have said.
Compounding this sense of frustration is their pay, The Times reported on Friday. The salaries of IRGC soldiers are a quarter of their counterparts in Lebanon’s Hezbollah forces, Iran’s most powerful Middle East proxy, according to sources.

The IRGC has brutally cracked down on the demonstrations that have swept Iran following the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September last year, for not wearing her hijab correctly.

The crackdown has seen 528 civilians killed and tens of thousands imprisoned.

Some 70 IRGC soldiers have died during the unrest, The Times said.

Adding to the force’s frustration, sources say, is the fact salaries paid to IRGC soldiers are a quarter of those granted to their Lebanese counterparts in Hezbollah.

Documents seen by The Times show a guard earns $300 a month, while average pay in Hezbollah is around $1,300.

With the Iranian economy under huge strain, inflation has exacerbated the problem, and a source told The Times: “While Hezbollah militants get richer, the Iranian public is hitting rock bottom.

“It is a painful difference for the IRGC forces who have been on the front line for all these months. They feel undervalued and underpaid.”

Gen. Qassem Qureshi, deputy commander of the Basij paramilitary, a religious militia within the IRGC, told journalists that “a huge fraction of the revolutionary forces on the streets are experiencing doubt and confusion,” leaked recordings revealed.

Morteza Abbaszadeh, an Iranian defense reporter, said: “These young men were simply seeking stable jobs, but many of them could never have imagined this is what they were getting themselves into.

“They live in isolated housing so they conceal what they are really doing from their families, who prefer to believe they are away performing duties such as guarding critical installations such as power plants and governors’ offices.”

Despite running businesses worth billions of dollars, ranging from oil and gas to construction, the way IRGC money is spent is not made available to the public.

Mardo Sorghum, an economic analyst, said: “Nobody knows where all this proxy funding such as Hezbollah comes from, the weapons research, the money going to Iraq and Syria.

“It’s all hidden from the budget and, in turn, the Iranian people.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×