Iran is now seeing the biggest wave of protests since the demonstrations of 2009 which were ruthlessly repressed. The Revolutionary Guards’ Basij militia which coordinated the 2009 crackdown, warned that it would “not allow the country to be hurt”
‘Mobilisation of the oppressed’
The Basij militia was originally set up by the Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 during the Iran-Iraq war. The Basij-e Mostaz’afin (Mobilisation of the Oppressed) has branches in every town. They received limited training and were used for “human wave” attacks, according to BBC. They were asked to clear Iraqi minefields by walking across them and were told they would become martyrs and go to heaven
Many Iranian officials say that the size of the force is 20 million, but independent estimates say the strength is around 400,000. A 2005 study by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in the United States, estimated 90,000 full-time, uniformed, active-duty Basij members and 300,000 reservists
Dispelling dissent
“Iran’s Basij militiamen do not wear uniforms or insignia, but they are still easy to spot on the streets of Tehran and other cities. With their short hair and camouflage jackets or trousers, and armed with batons, knives, iron bars and chains ... Basiji have been beating protesters without embarrassment,” wrote Ian Black, a visiting senior fellow at the Middle East Centre, LSE in the Guardian in 2009
Auxiliary arm of Revolutionary Guards
The force is commanded by a senior cleric and is an auxiliary arm of Iran’s feared Revolutionary Guards. Black writes that their role is said to have diminished under former president Mohammad Khatami, who was a reformist. But their power was boosted under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The 2009 protests were against a disputed presidential election that gave Ahmadinejad a second term. In fact, the hardliner reportedly used the militia’s extensive networks to win the presidency in 2005
The force is made up mostly of boys from poor, religious families, often from rural areas, according to BBC. The Basijs are also employed to oversee civilian behaviour and enforce Iran’s notorious dress code. Women can join the Basiji al-Zahra