"We have Revolutionary Guards who defied orders, though they were severely punished". Muhammed was a former member of the supreme leader's powerful inner security team. Now in hiding in a small flat in Turkey, he reveals the shocking level of disillusion and division amongst Ahmadinejad's own protectors, speaking of Iran's "reign or terror against its own people". Many former members of the Guard feel that the founding principles of the 1979 Islamic Revolution have been "betrayed" by a regime that has carried out a brutal repression of the Iranian opposition, including the widespread use of public executions, extrajudicial killings, and rape of men and women. Yet former member of the Revolutionary Guard, Major Madhi, is certain that the regime is far from being overthrown; an increasingly paranoid Ahmadinejad has brought in new, unquestioning recruits to replace guards critical of the regime. The men admit to playing a part in the crushing of the opposition following the contested election last year, but say they want "people outside to know what is happening. God does not exist in Iran right now".