Catherine Perez-Shakdam - The Jewish Woman Who Infiltrated The Iranian Regime and Tricked the Ayatollah

Jul 24, 2025

Catherine Perez-Shakdam, an author and commentator with a daring history of infiltrating Iran's regime, shares her gripping story of posing as a devout Muslim to expose its secrets. She reveals her surreal interactions with high-ranking officials, including the Ayatollah. The conversation dives deep into personal identity struggles, the psychological toll of espionage, and the regime's manipulation of media narratives. Perez-Shakdam discusses the resilience of Iranian women amid oppression and the chilling reality of living within a system driven by ideological fervor.

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ANECDOTE

Double Life in French Boarding School

Catherine Perez-Shakdam grew up feeling she had to live a double life to hide her Jewish identity.
She was bullied and pressured to deny her heritage in a French aristocratic boarding school.

ANECDOTE

Abuse After Marriage in Yemen

Catherine endured severe mental and physical abuse after marrying her Sunni Muslim husband from Yemen.
She was coerced to disappear her identity and conform to strict religious roles expected of her.

INSIGHT

Iran's Strategy of Societal Division

The Iranian regime exploits minority groups to infiltrate and destabilize societies.
They weaponize victimhood to divide communities and spread their ideology.

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Catherine Perez-Shakdam joins The Winston Marshall Show for an astonishing firsthand account of how she infiltrated Iran’s inner circle—posing as a devout Muslim to gain access to the highest levels of the regime.

In this explosive conversation, Perez-Shakdam reveals how she met the Ayatollah, was recruited by Tehran’s ideological machine, and witnessed the brutal inner workings of a regime obsessed with control, martyrdom, and religious supremacy.

She details the psychological toll of living a double life, the whispers of internal dissent, and the ideology she describes as “genocidal.”

They explore the regime’s strategic use of Western converts, the manipulation of media narratives, and how Iran exports its revolutionary vision far beyond its borders.

All this—espionage, radicalisation, religious indoctrination, and one woman’s battle to expose the truth from inside the heart of the Islamic Republic…

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Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:20 Who is Catherine Perez-Shakdam?

08:42 Marriage and Living a Double Life

19:45 Becoming a Propaganda Tool

28:30 Witnessing Brutality in the Middle East

40:37 The Turning Point

58:10 Iran’s Propaganda Machine in the West

1:06:02 Why Catherine Went Public

1:18:26 Interaction with Qasem Soleimani

1:26:09 The Role of the West

1:30:25 Meeting The Ayatollah and the Regime's Ideology

1:43:59 The Popularity of the Regime

1:47:44 The Role of the Crown Prince

1:55:00 Final Reflections & Hope for Change

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