Inside Iran’s Shadow War: Secret Opposition Group Exposes Quds Force Commanders
A mysterious Iranian opposition group known as the “People’s Army” is actively exposing high-ranking members of Iran’s Quds Force, including personal details, home addresses, and covert operations. Its activities, involving intelligence leaks and coordination with foreign governments, are contributing to the ongoing campaign to weaken Iran’s military influence from within.
A shadowy opposition movement operating inside Iran, calling itself the People’s Army, has become an increasingly vital player in the covert battle against the Islamic Republic's elite Quds Force. Through clandestine activities ranging from surveillance and doxxing to street-level propaganda, this enigmatic organization has been revealing the personal information, residential addresses, and vehicle license plates of senior Iranian officials, most notably those linked to the Quds Force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Recent reports indicate that the group has escalated its operations in recent months, especially following Israel's intensified military actions against Iranian targets. The People’s Army has reportedly been involved in providing sensitive intelligence to U.S. authorities, including through channels related to U.S. reward programs that target Iranian intelligence, cyber operatives, and Quds Force members.
Their activities span various forms of subversive warfare: photographing homes of IRGC officials, tagging walls with anti-regime graffiti, distributing underground newspapers, and exposing the identities of senior operatives. One recent high-profile leak was the full personal dossier of Behnam Shahriari, commander of Unit 190 of the Quds Force, an official long known for overseeing weapons smuggling routes between Tehran and Iran’s regional proxies.
Shahriari, who was recently eliminated in western Iran by the IDF, had reportedly been exposed by this very network. The opposition group released his home address, phone number, and even his father’s name, information which had previously never been made public. Shahriari had also been linked to a massive explosion at Bandar Abbas port in April, an incident that drew attention to the operations of Unit 190, first exposed in 2015.
This isn’t an isolated case. The People’s Army has systematically leaked personal information on other senior operatives, suggesting a coordinated effort to destabilize the internal security of the IRGC. While the identities of those behind the group remain unknown, what’s clear is their impact: they are actively eroding the secrecy surrounding the Quds Force and bolstering the wider campaign, led by Israel and others, to cripple Iran’s ability to project power across the Middle East.
This digital guerrilla warfare represents a growing threat to the regime’s once impenetrable internal control, and the People’s Army may prove to be one of the most consequential internal resistance forces Iran has ever faced.