KDRTV News – Iran: Catherine Perez-Shakdam is a French journalist, political analyst, and commentator who successfully infiltrated the highest echelons of the Iranian regime by posing as a Muslim convert and a supporter of their ideology.
Born into a secular Jewish family in France, Perez-Shakdam’s journey into the heart of the Iranian “terror state” began after a failed marriage to a Yemeni Muslim, during which she experienced antisemitism.
This experience, coupled with her interest in Middle Eastern culture and a desire to understand Shia radicalism, led her to cultivate pro-Iranian connections.
Perez-Shakdam’s infiltration was a calculated and prolonged effort. She started by writing blog posts and Middle East analysis that caught the attention of Iranian officials.
She contributed to Yemeni media, criticizing Western intervention and Saudi Arabia, which aligned with the Iranian regime’s narratives. Her articles were avidly read by the Tehran regime, and she was invited to contribute to a Shia TV station close to Hezbollah.
This journalistic work, including contributions to state-controlled Russian television (RT) and various Iranian news agencies like Tasnim News and Mehr News, helped her build credibility and trust within the regime.
She even became a regular writer for Khamenei.ir, the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Her access was facilitated by key figures within the Iranian establishment, notably Nader Talebzadeh, a propaganda filmmaker dubbed “Iran’s Goebbels,” and Hassan Al Emad, a known IRGC operative.
They saw her as a potential asset, a Westerner whose voice could be used to spread their message and recruit new followers. Perez-Shakdam, in turn, “played their game,” determined to understand the regime’s inner workings and ideology.
She believed that infiltrating the regime would give her life purpose and allow her to atone for past mistakes.
During her multiple trips to Iran, particularly in 2017, Perez-Shakdam met with numerous senior regime officials, including then-presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi (who later became president), and Major-General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force.
The pinnacle of her infiltration was a private audience with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei himself. During this meeting, Khamenei spoke of the “End of Days,” the return of the Mahdi, and the necessity of a “great war” to liberate al-Aqsa.
He justified “crimes against humanity,” stating that harming “enemies of God” was permissible. Perez-Shakdam noted his fear of an Israeli attack, recognizing Israel’s military superiority at the time.
A particularly disturbing revelation from her infiltration was a secret IRGC plan to “map” key Jewish figures and prominent Jewish NGOs worldwide for potential targeting by Iran’s assassination squads.
This plan aimed to understand their influence and locations to “strike and where” if Israel were to attack Iran, ensuring the diaspora would face a “very nasty surprise”.
While the provided content does not explicitly state that Catherine Perez-Shakdam “slept with over 100 men in Iran to gain sensitive information” or that she “befriended the wives of military and political leaders, who unknowingly shared personal details about their husbands,” it does highlight her deep infiltration and the trust she gained.
Her ability to move within these circles, including attending invitation-only workshops where plans to “map” the Jewish diaspora were discussed, suggests a level of access that went beyond typical journalistic engagement. Her French nationality and former marriage to a Muslim man were cited as factors that gave her “a free pass to many Islamic countries” and helped her gain trust.
Her most dangerous access came not in political halls in the women’s salons. There, she cultivated deep trust with the wives of Iran’s military commanders, politicians, and clerics. These women, believing her to be one of them, spoke freely sharing their husbands’ movements, travel routines, and private schedules.
Every word was recorded. Every secret relayed. Using this intelligence, targeted assassinations were carried out triggered not by weapons, but by the unguarded conversations of women who never knew they were part of a silent war.
When suspicions eventually boiled, Catherine quietly left Iran mission complete, leaving behind a regime rattled and exposed.
After returning to the West, she revealed her true identity in The Times of Israel, admitting her religious shift had been part of a deeper mission. While she denies working directly for Mossad, she confirmed working for Wikistrat, an Israeli strategic firm.
This revelation caused a significant stir in Iran, leading to Iranian media outlets removing her content and denying collaboration. While she denies being a Mossad spy, she concedes working for Wikistrat, an Israeli geostrategic and analysis firm, prior to her engagement with Iran.
Today, Perez-Shakdam serves as Director of ”We Believe in Israel”, using her insider knowledge to warn against Iran’s ideological warfare and lobbying for the IRGC to be labeled a terrorist organization.
Her story remains a chilling example of modern intelligence where information, trust, and ideology become the most powerful weapons of all.
