| | Featuring David B. Crist and Reza Kahlili
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 Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the most powerful institution in the country. Over the past thirty-one years, it has morphed from a military arm designed to defend the Islamic Republic to a massive economic conglomerate and chief national exporter of terrorism. Yet many aspects of Iran's most elite organization remain a mystery to U.S. Iran analysts.
The Washington Institute invited "Reza Kahlili" -- the pseudonym for a former IRGC member and author of the new book A Time To Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran -- to address a special Policy Forum on July 9, 2010. Out of concern for his safety, as well as that of his family inside Iran, his voice and appearance were disguised. Mr. Kahlili was introduced by Institute visiting fellow David B. Crist.
David B. Crist is a visiting fellow at The Washington Institute. He is currently on a leave of absence from the Department of Defense, where he serves as a senior historian for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Dr. Crist is author of the 2009 Washington Institute Policy Focus Gulf of Conflict: A History of U.S.-Iranian Confrontation at Sea.
Reza Kahlili originally joined the Revolutionary Guard to defend the new Islamic Republic. When he became disillusioned with the Khomeini regime, he volunteered to work as a spy for the United States. For ten years, under the code name "Wally," he relayed the secret operations of the IRGC back to American intelligence, eventually fleeing to the United States. In the aftermath of 9/11, Mr. Kahlili reestablished contact with his sources in Iran and began once again providing information to the CIA. He continues to serve as an active voice for a free Iran and maintains his unique access to the Revolutionary Guard. |
