Members of Iran’s parliament have appealed to the Minister of Intelligence to resume Basij patrols as security forces crack down on the protests sweeping the country.
Here’s what we know about the Iranian paramilitary force that has long been used by the state to quell protests:
Who are the Basij? Meaning “mobilization” in Farsi, the Basij is a volunteer paramilitary group that is an auxiliary arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the powerful and elite wing of the Iranian military. It was formed shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who famously declared that Iran could never be destroyed with a 20-million-man militia.
Who makes up its ranks? The nationwide militia is known to recruit members from rural and urban areas and organize mainly at mosques around Tehran and other major cities, and its members often come from poorer, more conservative backgrounds. The group is under the command of the IRGC, which is under the direct control of Iran’s supreme leader.
What does it do? The Basij is an internal security force formed to prop up Iran’s theocracy and state ideology and enforce Islamic morality. The group has taken a leading role in violently quashing dissent for decades.
A growing role: They were famed for conducting “human wave” attacks during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war that reportedly cleared out minefields for the professional military. But the Basij has had a growing role since 2003, when it was beefed up as a first line of defense amid suspicions of a possible US-led invasion, experts said. The militia has since emerged during the initial moments of uprisings and unrest.
US sanctions: The Basij force and certain commanders have been sanctioned multiple times by the US government, including for human rights violations, suppressing student protests and allegedly using child soldiers.
Suppressing unrest: In 2009, the Basij took the lead in crowd control when tens of thousands protested the presidential election in Tehran, and in 2022, during the suppression of protests following the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody of the religious police.
Current protests: The Basij are among the security forces deployed to crack down on the protests. Iranian state media has reported casualties within its security forces, including the Basij. The Basij may also be involved in monitoring online activity. On Sunday, the Basij News Agency, the official news channel of the Basij forces, reported that a blogger’s website and social channels had been shut down, saying “the arrest of bloggers supporting riot continues.”
