The Basij militia has led efforts to suppress the latest wave of protests in Iran, where thousands have reportedly been killed in a crackdown by the regime.
For the past seven years, the Basij has been commanded by Gholamreza Soleimani, an officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps holding a rank equivalent to brigadier general. Despite the name, he is not related to Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force who was killed by the U.S. in January 2020.
Gholamreza Soleimani began his career in the militia during the Iran-Iraq war in 1984, serving first as a company commander and later as a battalion commander.
Because of his deep involvement in the brutal suppression of protests in recent years, he is subject to sanctions imposed by the U.S., U.K., Canada and European Union.
Like other senior figures in the regime, he has repeatedly declared that the Islamic Republic will continue its efforts to destroy the State of Israel.
“The enemy has deluded itself into thinking that assassinating scientists and commanders would stop the progress of Iranian civilization, but we will continue on our path until the complete liberation of Palestine,” Soleimani said after “Operation Rising Lion,” Israel’s 12-day war against Iran in June.
In 2019, the Basij commander boasted that the militia had already become a “regional military power,” operating in four Arab countries. At the time he was quoted as saying, “The influence of the Basij is no longer limited to Iran’s borders. It can be seen in Syria, Iraq, the Mediterranean coast [Lebanon] and southeastern Hijaz [Yemen].”
This was a clear hint that Iran had dispatched Basij members to assist the terrorist organizations it supports throughout the Middle East.
Everywhere at once
Indeed, it is difficult to find a sphere in Iran in which the Basij is not involved, from arresting protesters to carrying out the most obscure assignments.
Just days ago, for example, militia members arrested a young Iranian man named Arfan Soltani during an anti-regime protest in the city of Karaj. The charge against Soltani, according to Iranian exiles, was that he dared to lead the demonstration.
He was sentenced to death by hanging, prompting a social media campaign against his execution. On Thursday, it emerged that the efforts had borne fruit, after Iran announced that the sentence had been overturned.
Another brutal practice involving Basij members is the blinding of protesters by firing directly at their eyes. Foreign media have repeatedly exposed how hundreds of Iranians, between 400 and 500 according to some reports, lost their eyesight during the demonstrations.
Even before the current unrest, the story of Nechirvan Maroufi was published in November by IranWire. In 2022, Maroufi was a conscript in the Iranian army. After finishing a shift, he went to take part in a protest, which was quickly crushed by regime forces, including Basij members who arrived on motorcycles and opened fire at participants fleeing in all directions.
The protest erupted after the killing of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who was detained by the regime’s so-called morality police and tortured for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
“It is impossible to describe the pain,” Maroufi recalled. “My retina was torn. Blood was pouring out.” Today, after a series of surgeries in Iran and abroad, Maroufi can see with only one eye.
According to the Basij’s official news channel, during the current wave of protests its members were tasked with arresting Iranian bloggers to prevent them from reporting on events inside the country. In addition, they monitored online activity, at least until the regime ordered a complete internet shutdown.
All of this is part of a structured doctrine. As early as 2021, Soleimani announced a “plan to control the internet.” He unveiled an ambitious scheme to train eight million users to “enforce control over the digital space.” In other words, to spy on Iranian citizens on social media and spread regime propaganda.
In direct continuation of this approach, the militia is constantly involved in neighborhood surveillance, passing on intelligence about regime opponents and coordinating with other security and intelligence bodies. It is a Big Brother composed of countless informants.
The extent of the Basij’s influence can be seen in the Mahta Sadri case. She was the editor-in-chief of the regional news channel Gilan Sadr in Gilan province in northwestern Iran. In September, she was summoned to court after the head of the local Basij student cell filed a complaint against her. The reason was an accusation of “critical coverage” of a local militia official.
In other cases, the Basij has been dispatched by intelligence bodies to carry out special missions. Last summer, against the backdrop of the “Rising Lion” operation, militia forces were sent to confiscate private security cameras in Tehran and Karaj.
The origins
The father of the militia was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the first leader of the Islamic Republic after the 1979 revolution. He founded the organization that year to “defend the revolution,” amid his not unfounded fears of Iran’s military generals.
Indeed, despite waves of purges, an attempted military coup took place as early as 1980. The Basij was effectively designed to block the Iranian army, or any other force that might attempt to launch a new revolution.
But the militia quickly became Khomeini’s doomsday weapon. In the 1980s, the Basij was used to recruit children, youths and adults who were sent to the killing fields of the war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, which had invaded Iran.
More than anything else, the militia left its mark through the infamous human wave assaults. To help clear minefields, Basij members were sent to their almost certain deaths to allow forces to advance. In other cases, they were ordered to charge Iraqi troop formations.
From then until today, the Basij has maintained trained military units within the Revolutionary Guards, providing logistical and combat support. As the IRGC’s influence grew, the Basij became part of a vast economic and political network that enjoys privileges and positions within state institutions.
The U.S. Treasury has estimated that this network channels billions of dollars through real estate, stock market holdings and other assets.
“According to the Basij doctrine, if the official security forces and the army cannot or will not defend the regime, then this force, composed mainly of trained and armed civilians, will carry out the task,” an influential Arab media outlet wrote.
Within regime circles, the Basij is presented as the “guardian of the revolution” and the “last line of defense.”
According to official Iranian sources, the number of Basij members runs into the millions. By contrast, the Iranian opposition told Israel Hayom that the figure is only in the hundreds of thousands, a discrepancy that likely stems from differences between the various types of forces the Basij operates.
Either way, the militia’s armed members constitute the largest force at the disposal of the Iranian regime. They play a significant ideological role in promoting revolutionary discourse and spreading messages of loyalty to the supreme leader, whether through religious activities or propaganda campaigns.
Basij recruitment is carried out mainly through mosques. An Iranian exile told Israel Hayom that Basij members also used mosques as military centers to equip themselves with weapons before going out to suppress protesters. As a result, she said, several mosques were set ablaze across Iran.
This may be the clearest symbol of the Basij’s reputation among the Iranian public. Even houses of worship associated with the militia have become symbols of repression and tyranny.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
