Iranian Basij Revolutionary Guards Disguise as Women to Evade Israeli Intelligence
Since June 2025, Israel and the US have conducted coordinated military operations against Iran, initially focused on military and nuclear targets but increasingly targeting Iran’s internal security apparatus .
The stated goal, according to Israeli and US officials, is to degrade the capabilities of the forces that suppress domestic dissent, with the hope of creating conditions for political change .
The Basij (a volunteer paramilitary branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and the IRGC have been primary targets in this campaign. Analysts describe them as the “pillars of the regime’s social control,” responsible for cracking down on protesters .
Airstrikes have reportedly destroyed their headquarters and command centers in Tehran and other major cities .
While the claim about dressing as women remains unverified, social media outlets and platforms do confirm the following about the current tactics and posture of these forces:
· Going Underground and Mingling with Civilians: A key concern among analysts is that the physical destruction of buildings is not enough to dismantle the security apparatus. A senior expert on Iran was quoted as saying, “Many of those Basij, IRGC — they are just changing to plain clothes and mingling with people and just trying to survive until the day comes to take up arms” . This suggests a tactical shift towards blending in with the civilian population to avoid being targeted in future strikes.
· Widespread Crackdown on Suspected Spies: Since the start of the conflict, Iran has launched an intense internal crackdown. The regime has arrested hundreds of people, accusing them of having links to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency . The Basij have been actively deployed to carry out these arrests and man checkpoints . This indicates that rather than just hiding, they are actively engaged in internal security operations.
· Paramilitary Mobilization: In the early days of the conflict in June 2025, reports indicated that Iran had activated popular mobilization checkpoints and night patrols across the country, involving Basij forces to hunt for suspected Mossad-linked sleeper cells.
To be clear, there is no evidence from reliable sources to support the idea that Iranian security forces are using cross-dressing as a specific counter-surveillance measure against Mossad.
But what we do know is that The Basij and IRGC are primary targets of US/Israeli airstrikes. Analysts and officials believe these forces are adapting by blending into civilian populations in plain clothes to survive. Iran has mobilized these very forces to conduct a widespread internal hunt for Mossad collaborators, leading to mass arrests .
Therefore, the speculative claim about cross-dressing seems to be an unverified embellishment of the confirmed tactic of forces going into hiding and adopting plainclothes to evade detection.
