Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been herding pro-American protesters into sandpits and lobbing fragmentation grenades into those for fun, according to a CIA source familiar with the ongoing conflict.
After the US and Israel bombed the shit out of Iran on February 28, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and decimating Iran’s navy and missile sites, tens of thousands of impoverished Iranians danced in Tehran’s streets, championing President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as agents of freedom. They celebrated exuberantly, waving American flags as US planes and cruise missiles zoomed overhead. Initial strikes decimated air defenses, airfields, command & control structures, and Iran’s senior leadership, but largely left the IRGC unscathed. Their response to the ongoing attacks came as no surprise to intelligence personnel who have studied how the IRGC reacts to existential threats and civilian uprising: kill the invaders and mercilessly slaughter rebellious citizens.
On March 2, as the sun crested the horizon and bombs stopped falling from the sky, citizens in Tehran emerged from homes and shelters. Shellshocked but cheerful, they gathered on cratered streets and triumphantly championed American and Israeli intervention. They unfurled posters of Donald Trump’s and Netanyahu’s faces, and taped them to windows and storefronts.
Then came the IRGC street sweepers; swarms of radical Khamenei loyalists on foot and in technical trucks descended on the freedom-loving populace, spraying machine gun fire that shredded a dozen men, women, and children who hadn’t sought cover quickly enough. Dismembered corpses littered the street. Bullhorns and loudspeakers blared ominous tidings: civilians supporting the United States or Israel would be arrested or killed on sight.
The celebrations stopped abruptly. Citizens understood that opposing the IRGC was a death sentence. Instead of partying in the open, they huddled in solidarity in private homes and businesses, discussing ways of resisting the IRGC’s wanton massacring of people who valued peace over tyranny. The IRGC was rounding up protesters and hanging them in broad daylight or forcing them to face firing squads. The death toll was catastrophic.
“IRGC is so ruthless, they’ll murder family. Sons killing siblings, mothers, fathers. The brutality of war,” our source said.
On March 15, the IRGC stormed Tehran’s Fayaz Bakhsm Hospital, where physicians were treating burn and blast victims. The maniacal stormtroopers accused 15 doctors of being American sympathizers and dragged them to a freshly dug sandpit north of the city. Flung into the 17-foot-deep depression, they begged for mercy, saying they had been aiding the wounded regardless of their allegiance. Nonetheless, the IRGC accused them of aiding the enemy and dropped grenades in the pit.
“Viciousness,” our source said. “We can drop a million bombs on boats, airports, and buildings, but to affect real change, we’ll have to put boots on the ground to take out the IRGC. No war has been won just by airpower. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but if the IRGC survives, so does Khamenei’s legacy. And, no, the Kurds can’t do it alone, even if they get the balls to enter the fight.”
Widely regarded as the world’s largest stateless ethnic group, the Kurds are indigenous to the mountain region of West Asia known as Kurdistan. While they aren’t particularly fond of America or Western values, they had, pragmatically, cooperated with the United States’ war on ISIS in Iraq and Syria—for mutual self-defense. Now, though, they’ve been reluctant to enter the fight because the IRGC vastly outnumbers and outguns them.
“Kurds aren’t altruistic warriors—they fight for self-interest. What they want—American and Israeli feet on the ground to whittle away at the IRGC before they commit to large-scale ground fights against the IRGC. If we’re gonna win, it’ll be by attrition, and that means ground war,” our source said.
In summary, Kurdish cooperation with the U.S. is rooted in pragmatic survival against shared foes like ISIS or repressive regimes, combined with hopes for security and autonomy. It’s a partnership of convenience where both sides benefit tactically, but it’s rarely unconditional or permanent.