Signs of deepening fractures within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are mounting, with reports of unit-level desertions, senior commanders accused of abandoning their troops, and growing internal dissent threatening the cohesion of the Islamic Republic's most powerful military institution.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, told Bloomberg on Sunday that small units within the IRGC and its paramilitary affiliate, the Basij, have begun refusing to report for duty — a development he described as unprecedented. "We have small units within the system of the IRGC and the Basij, which are not turning their weapons yet on their superiors, but they're not showing up for work," Leiter said. "And that's a first. It's developing, and it's a process."
The ambassador framed the trend in broader historical terms, drawing parallels with the collapse of authoritarian regimes in the twentieth century. "The edifice of this tyrannical regime is cracking. It has not opened up to wide chasms yet, but that's the direction it's going," Leiter said, adding that it was not only Iran's military capabilities being degraded, but also the morale of its armed forces. Invoking the fall of the Soviet Union and Romania's Ceaușescu, he argued that the Iranian people — numbering 92 million — were a population seeking freedom from what he termed a repressive boot on their necks.
These macro-level assessments are corroborated by more specific internal revelations reported by Israel Hayom, citing the news website Iran International. According to that report, sharp criticism has emerged within the upper ranks of the IRGC targeting Majid Mousavi, commander of the Corps' Aerospace Force. Senior figures within the organisation have accused Mousavi of deserting his post and abandoning forces in the field since the outbreak of fighting in late February, at a time of significantly increased operational pressure.
Sources cited by Iran International described conditions faced by Aerospace Force operators as extreme. Missile launch missions were characterised in some instances as bordering on suicidal, with crew members operating without adequate command support. Families of some personnel reportedly filed formal complaints with senior IRGC authorities over what they described as near-suicidal assignments conducted in the absence of effective leadership.
Beyond the accusations of abandonment, Israel Hayom also reported allegations of mismanagement against Mousavi and the transmission of falsified data regarding the number of missile launches and their outcomes — an especially damaging charge given the Aerospace Force's central role in Iran's current military posture.
Mousavi, a brigadier general who assumed command of the Aerospace Force on 14 June 2025 following the death of his predecessor Amir Ali Hajizadeh during Operation Rising Lion, is also subject to US sanctions imposed in December 2024 for his involvement in developing Iran's strategic weapons systems.
Ambassador Leiter, meanwhile, addressed the broader strategic picture, warning that Iran's ballistic capabilities should not be underestimated. Pointing to Sunday's missile strike on the Diego Garcia joint US-UK military base, located approximately 4,000 kilometres from Iran, Leiter cautioned: "Give them a little bit more time, and they're gonna have an ICBM that's gonna hit Chicago."