Mohamad Faridi once served inside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the IRGC. What he tells Erin Molan about the ideology, the training and the way recruits are taught to think about death left her stunned. This is not a conversation about military hardware or geopolitics from a distance. It is a first-hand account from someone who grew up inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, entered the Revolutionary Guard system and eventually walked away from the worldview he had been taught. Faridi explains what becoming an IRGC soldier meant to him at the time, what happened during his training, and why he believes the West still fundamentally misunderstands the mentality of the enemy it is dealing with. Then the conversation takes an unexpected turn — into faith, Islam, Christianity and the decision that changed Faridi’s life entirely. There is one story from his IRGC training in particular that Erin says gave her chills.
Erin Molan