“Basij”… the Iranian force that suppresses protests and causes terror – Algerian Al-Hiwar newspaper

Anti-government protests in Iran have been ongoing for more than two weeks, amid a violent crackdown involving the Basij, the Iranian paramilitary force that plays an essential role in imposing order and controlling the street. According to human rights reports, more than 544 people, including eight children, were killed during these recent protests.

The Basij was founded after the 1979 Islamic Revolution by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as a volunteer paramilitary arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This group recruits its members from various cities and rural areas, often from conservative social backgrounds, and centers its activities around mosques, while being completely under the direct command of the Revolutionary Guards and the Supreme Leader.

The role of the Basij is to support the religious regime and impose Islamic morality, in addition to violently suppressing popular dissent. These forces have emerged during wars and unrest, from the Iran-Iraq war to the popular uprisings of 2009 and 2022, and are subject to repeated US sanctions for human rights violations, including the use of children in combat missions.

Today, Basij forces are participating in monitoring protesters and pursuing activists on the Internet, as the forces’ official agency announced the closure of websites and accounts on social media platforms and the arrest of bloggers supporting the protests, in an indication of the increasing role of this force in suppressing any opposition activity inside Iran.